LOS ANGELES — The least of his golf game concerns is the record at Riviera Country Club. Tiger Woods has never won the Genesis Invitational and its various forerunners, finishing in the top 10 just three times in 14 starts at the historic venue not far from his childhood home.
Woods makes his 2024 debut Thursday in the first round of what is now called a signature event on the PGA Tour. He’s grouped with Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland for the first two rounds, and comes in with more rust and more questions than any other player.
It is his first official event since withdrawing from the Masters during the third round last April and subsequent ankle surgery. Woods returned to the unofficial Hero World Challenge in December, where he expressed optimism about being able to play more this year.
“My ankle doesn’t hurt anymore because no bones are rubbing anymore,” Woods said during a news conference following the pro-am, where he played with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Aaron Hicks. “But then again, it’s different. Other parts of my body have to take the brunt of it. Just like my back is fused so other parts of my body have taken the brunt of that. I have two different body parts that are now fused. Other parts of the body have to adapt.
“I still love competing, I love playing, I love being a part of the game of golf. This is the game of a lifetime and I don’t ever want to stop playing. I love being able to compete, I love being able to enjoy different conversations from across time. For instance, like today, to be able to play with two great athletes, the cross‑pollination doesn’t happen with other sports. And this game, I love that and I don’t ever want to lose that.”
It was three years ago that Woods was involved in a car crash near Riviera following the Genesis Invitational that led to multiple surgeries and corresponding issues with his lower right leg, ankle and foot.
He’s played just five official events since that crash, although returned to the Masters in 2022 just 14 months later. In two appearances, he’s made the cut twice at the Masters.
Woods is now walking considerably better than he has at any time during the past two years and showed plenty of pop in a Tuesday practice round and again Wednesday.
The issue is being able to do it in tournament rounds.
“How the body feels from day to day and the grind of trying to practice and get ready for an event, just the overall just aging process of it all, that has been the trick of it and been the challenge of it,” he said. “This will be my first Tour event back since I’ve had my ankle fused, so that’s different, and I had two soft events playing at Hero and the PNC.
“So trying to get used to the new feels of the body. That’s always the challenge. And the challenges of trying to get Tour-ready, that’s been what we’ve been trying to do the last couple weeks and trying be sure I’m physically fit and ready to play this event. Being ready for tomorrow. We have our work cut out for us and look forward to it.”
Although Woods is facing a stout field, it is a smaller one. He’s one of just 70 players and the 36-hole cut includes the top 50 and ties plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead. It is possible that Woods might need to beat just 10 to 15 players in order to advance to the weekend.
And at this point, getting the tournament reps is important. Woods said in December that a once-a-month schedule would include a tournament in Florida—probably the Players Championship—which is a month prior to the Masters.
“I think that more than anything, from a technical standpoint, is making sure I can still hit the golf ball flush and solid,” Woods said. “I don’t have the same speed I used to have, I don’t have the ability to practice the same amount of hours, but I still do work on making sure that I can hit the ball on the middle of the face. If I can do that consistently, one of the reasons I don’t have a choice right now, my body day to day, week to week just looks kind of different. I can’t really model myself or fit any kind of model—a lot of it’s my hands and my feel.
“I built this golf swing the last few years, four, five years based on my hands and what that feels like.”
Woods’s history at Riviera is interesting considering his affinity for the area, the course and the fact he grew up nearby. His best chance to win the event was in 1998—when it wasn’t played at Riviera—as he lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair.
The following year, he finished second to Ernie Els. But following the 2006 tournament, he didn’t play here again until 2018 after his foundation began running the event, for which he became tournament host.
“I have traditionally not putted well here,” he said. “This is a fader’s delight, most of the holes are, for a righty, run left to right. I’ve driven it well here. There are small greens and traditionally throughout my entire career my iron game has been pretty good, but I have never really gotten hot with the putter at this course.
“Generally they’re bumpy Poa (annua greens), so it’s been a little bit tricky. For some reason it just has never compiled to a hot week. I had one where I had a chance, I guess Ernie, and hit a foul ball on the last hole. Other than that, I really haven’t had that many opportunities for some reason.”
Woods’s first-round tee time is at 12:15 p.m. ET.
