Tiger Woods withdraws from Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades due to illness
Tiger Woods withdrew from the Genesis Invitational on Friday, just two days into the golf tournament, which he hosts at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
Woods' departure was due to illness, according to the PGA.
On Thursday, he said he was experiencing back spasms prior to his second shot on the 18th hole.
"My back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up," said Woods, who underwent a spinal fusion in 2017. "I came down and it didn't move and I presented hosel first and shanked it."
The hosel is the socket of a golf club head into which the shaft fits. A shank is when a player hits the ball anywhere except on the clubface
Woods underwent a "subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture," according to a statement he released on his Twitter account on April 19.
The surgery was the latest in the series of operations Woods has undergone since suffering multiple fractures to his right leg and ankle when the SUV he was driving rolled over on a downhill slope of northbound Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes on Feb. 23, 2021, two days after the conclusion of that year's Genesis Invitational.
Woods shot a 1-over 72 Thursday on the course with five birdies and six bogeys, birdieing the first, fourth, sixth, 11th and 14th holes and bogeying the second, third, 10th, 12th, 15th and 18th.
"A lot of good and a lot of indifferent," Woods said when asked to describe his round. "I was either making birdies or bogeys and just never really got anything consistent going today. "I struggled with the speed of the greens. I couldn't believe how fast they were today even though I made a couple. I ran a bunch by the hole today, it was very stressful. But the golf course is in such perfect shape. Considering the amount of rain they've gotten, to get the golf course this fast is pretty impressive."
