Tiger Woods has been forced to withdraw during the second round of the Genesis Invitational – but according to an official PGA Tour statement, it’s due to illness rather than injury.
In his first competitive appearance since the 2023 Masters, Woods struggled with back spasms in the first round of the $20m USD tournament, which saw him horribly shank a shot on the 18th before hitting a remarkable shot from the trees.
He finished the first round one-over par and well off the pace. He made it through six holes in the second round, with one birdie followed by a pair of bogeys, before pulling out of the tournament.
He teed off on the seventh hole before being taken off the Riviera Country Club course in a golf cart.
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Woods had not played competitively since undergoing surgery on an ankle after withdrawing midway through the Masters over 10 months ago.
‘Pretty darn special’: Tiger’s incredible shot stuns in wild return as Aussies shine
Elsewhere, Will Zalatoris won TWO cars when he aced the 184-yard 14th hole.
His seven-iron shot hit the front edge of the green and slowly rolled in, sparking huge celebrations as he dropped his club then jumped into the arms of caddie Joel Stock.
Zalatoris won a Genesis GV80 while Stock earned an electric Genesis Electrified GV70 for the first ace of the tournament.
“I think it was 180, pin back, into the wind and we were just trying to hit it kind of right in the middle of that gap between the two bunkers,” Zalatoris said after his round. “I just pulled it about 10 feet and it landed perfectly on the fringe and killed it.
“Lucky to go in,” he added. “It was a nice little bonus.”
Zalatoris had major back surgery last April, and had not hit an ace since 2020.
“We’ve been talking about it,” he said. “Like I went through a stretch in like 2020 where I made like five and I haven’t made one since, so I was like I’m going to make one sooner or later.”
Zalatoris finished with a one-under 70 to sit in the top ten at six-under overall.
And it was another strong day for the Aussie contingent.
Jason Day backed up his first-round 65 with a two-under 69 to sit eight-under overall, currently in a tie for second.
Patrick Cantlay leads on 10-under overall, currently three under for the round through 10 holes.
Aussie Cam Davis is also in the mix after his first-round 65. He’s currently two-under for the round through 12 and in that mix of players at eight-under.
After a one-over first round 72, his countryman Adam Scott turned it around in the second round with a three-under 68 to comfortably make the cut at two-under overall.
