Tiger Woods Commits To Genesis Invitational; Will Be First Non-Major Start Since October 2020

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Tiger Woods will tee it up in next week's Genesis Invitational, marking his first start in a non-major championship since the 2020 Zozo Championship. 

Woods made just three appearances last year in his return from traumatic right-leg injuries suffered in a single-car crash in California in February 2021. He made the cut in the Masters and the PGA Championship but withdrew after the third round of the PGA. In his final start of the year, he missed the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews. 

Woods announced the news on Twitter. 

Woods committed to play in the Hero World Challenge last December but withdrew days before the tournament with plantar fasciitis, an injury to the foot that he said is indeed related to his surgically repaired right foot. He did, however, participate in The Match alongside Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, as well as the PNC Championship alongside his son, Charlie. 

"It was a tough decision (to pull out of the Hero) just because I want to play," Woods said in the Bahamas. "I like playing, I like competing, but unfortunately, I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want, I just can't walk. And so I've had a few setbacks during the year that I still was able to somehow play through, but this one I just can't. I just -- only time can heal this one and stay off my feet and get a lot of treatment done."

Woods is the host of the Genesis Invitational, and the tournament benefits his TGR Foundation. But he hasn't had much success, at least relatively speaking, at the host venue of Riviera Country Club. Woods made his first PGA Tour start as a 16-year-old at Riviera but the course's kikuyu fairways and poa annua greens have frustrated him throughout his career—it's the course he's played most times without a victory, teeing it up 14 times with a best finish of T-2 in 1999. 

Riviera's first tee shot is iconic—players tee off in the shadow of the clubhouse and the fairway is a good 30 yards lower than the tee. The 18th tee shot is similarly famous, but goes steeply uphill rather than downhill. Those two holes will prove to be a challenging walk, but the rest of the course is rather flat. 

The Genesis Invitational will be the PGA Tour's second consecutive designated event, meaning it'll have a $20 million purse and award $3.6 million to the winner. Virtually all of the top PGA Tour players are expected to play.