Tiger Woods in the Final Two Rounds of the Genesis Invitational: His First Open Championship Game since the Open Championship in June and his First Major Open Tournament since the ZOZO Championship
It was an impressive third round from Tiger Woods, one that included an eagle and a drive that ended up in a spectator’s jacket.
“All of a sudden he hit, and nobody knows where it went,” the fan later told the PGA Tour. “I looked and I had this bump in my pocket, you know my jacket which I had wrapped around … and I pulled it off and a ball dropped off and it was his.”
He ended the round with an impressive four-under 67, shooting three birdies and an eagle for his best round of the week and the third-lowest score of the day.
Woods made the cut in the final two rounds of a tournament for the first time since the 2012 PGA Championship when he withdrew from the event after the final round because of a back injury.
Woods has made sporadic appearances as he battles to recover from injuries he sustained in a car accident two years ago.
Playing at the Genesis Invitational this week marks his first official tournament start since The Open Championship in July and his first non-major PGA Tour event since the ZOZO Championship in October 2020.
“It’s just a matter of whether I can get from point A to point B,” Woods said Saturday, per the PGA Tour. “That’s been the struggle part of it. I can chip, hit balls on the range and putt. It’s just getting from point A to point B has been the biggest challenge.”
The 15-time major winner is three under par for the tournament, 12 shots off leader Jon Rahm who is on 15 under. The 47-year-old will tee off at 11:16am ET in the final round on Sunday.
He has had a controversial week in California. He apologized after his second round if he offended anyone, for giving fellow golfer Justin Thomas a sanitary napkin during the first round.
Tiger Woods played his best golf since the car crash in February 2021 that threatened to end his career to finish tied-45th at the Genesis Invitational, as Jon Rahm walked away with his third PGA Tour win of 2023 to regain the world No. 1 spot.
After sustaining serious leg injuries in a crash, The 15-time major winner has played only intermittently since, but on Saturday shot his lowest round score since then, 67, to finish the tournament one-under-par.
After his round, Woods said he wanted to play four majors every year, but that he didn’t want to play too much.
He told CBS his body and his back wouldn’t allow him to play much more than that. “So that was my goal last year and I was able to play three of the four, and this year, I can hopefully play all four. That is going to be my schedule going forward because of all of the limitations I have.
My game is okay. Yeah, it is rusty. I made some silly mistakes here and there, and I didn’t quite pick up the speed of the greens each and every day fast enough, like I normally would if I was playing.
I feel like I have been hitting the ball at home, so there is no reason to change that. I had to take it out here where it had to be walked from point A to point B and it was always difficult. I’m just thankful that my team helps me to get ready each night and morning so I can go out and play. I was able to do it.
Rahm: What he did after winning the 10th PGA Tour championship and how he walked out of the final five-hole hole
Meanwhile, Rahm continued his stunning form in 2023 to win the 10th PGA Tour title of his career and knock Scottie Scheffler off the top of the world rankings.
The Spaniard came through a nail-biting, final-round battle against Max Homa to win by two shots after posting a final score of 17-under-par, which included two birdies in his final five holes.
Rahm told CBS that that was a rough week and a tough Sunday. I was glad I could come through afterMax battled and Patrick gave us a scare.
The fact that I have won at this golf course, and the three others I have won in a season, is incredible and something I hadn’t done before.