LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods is among 11 golfers tied for 49th, eight strokes off the lead, entering Friday's second round of The Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club, his first official PGA Tour event since having his ankle fused last April.
Woods shot a 1-over 72 Thursday on the Pacific Palisades 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."
Former UCLA standout Patrick Cantlay shot a 7-under 64 to take a one- stroke lead over fellow American Luke List and Australians Cam Davis and Jason Day atop the leaderboard. Americans Tom Hoge, Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris were tied for fifth at 5-under 66, two strokes off the lead. Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked men's golfer, was among five golfers tied for 10th, four strokes back at 3-under 68.
Woods, meanwhile, said he was "definitely nervous."
"I care about how I play and certainly I was feeling the nerves starting out," Woods said. "I got off to a good start birdieing the first and getting right back up on the next two holes and made a couple more birdies. It was one of those days, just never really got anything consistently going and hopefully tomorrow I can clean it up."
Woods shanked his second shot on the 18th hole, sending the ball from the fairway just 71 yards toward the right tree line, leaving him 109 yards from the hole. He hit his third shot 112 yards to the green, leaving him 15 feet, 4 inches from the hole, then two-putted for a bogey.
"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 what a statement released on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, described as a "subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture," 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.
It came 12 days after Woods withdrew from the Masters, his most recent PGA Tour event before Thursday, in the midst of the third round because of plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tissue that runs across the bottom of the foot and connects the heel bone to the toes.
When asked Thursday how his foot and ankle were, Woods responded, "Foot's good. Leg's a little bit sore, things are a little bit sore, but that's to be expected. That's nothing that we weren't prepared for and we've got some work to do tonight and tomorrow."
Scheffler was the pre-tournament favorite at 13-2 and dropped to the second choice at 6-1 behind Cantlay, who is at 7-2, according to BetMGM, an official betting operator of the PGA Tour.
Woods played in two non-PGA Tour events since the surgery, finishing 18th in a field of 20 in the Hero World Challenge Nov. 30-Dec. 3 and teaming with his then 14-year-old son Charlie to tie for fifth in the parent-and-child PNC Championship Dec. 16-17.
The Genesis Invitational is the 48-year-old Woods' sixth PGA Tour event since the crash. He has been able to play all 72 holes of a tournament only twice, finishing 47th in the 2022 Masters, 23 strokes behind Scheffler, and tying for 45th in last year's Genesis Invitational, 16 strokes behind winner Jon Rahm.
Woods is again in danger of not being able to play 72 holes. The field will be reduced after Friday's second round to the top 50 and ties, plus any player within 10 shots of the lead.
This is the 16th time Woods has played in what is now The Genesis Invitational, including missing the cut as a 16-year-old amateur in his first appearance in 1992. The 15 starts are his most in a PGA Tour event without a victory. The closest he came to winning was in 1998, when he lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair. The next year he was among three golfers tied for second, two strokes behind Ernie Els.
"I have traditionally not putted well here," Woods said Wednesday. "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 (the type of grass on the greens at Riviera), so it's been a little bit tricky. For some reason it just has never compiled to a hot week."
When asked Wednesday "from a golf perspective what would make this week a success" Woods replied, "A nice W would be nice, right? Hopefully I can figure something out and get myself in there in contention and maybe get a W at the end of the week."
The odds of a Woods victory were 125-1 entering Thursday's play and rose to 600-1 following conclusion of the first round. Woods has not won a tournament since the 2019 Zozo Championship, his 82nd victory on the PGA Tour, tying Sam Snead for the most in history. His last top 10 finish was tying for ninth in the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open.
Woods, who is also the tournament's host, played in a threesome with Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland, whom Woods described as both "great friends" of his.
"I think the whole day we were chatty all day," Woods said. "It was great to just be out there with those two. We text and call each other all the time. I see J.T. a lot at home, but I haven't seen Wood at all. To be out there with him and just share the moment with him, it was a lot of fun."
Woodland, like Woods, is playing on a sponsor's exemption. The 2019 U.S. Open champion is playing his fourth PGA Tour event since announcing on Aug. 30 he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent lengthy brain surgery on Sept. 18.
"I think we haven't had enough conversation about what he's gone through and how difficult life was for Gary and how scary that each and every moment," Woods said Wednesday. "He's afraid of dying, and the anxiety of that and to have a surgery and remove a tumor out of his brain and to come back and play the tour, that's an unbelievable story. I think that we should applaud him for what he's been able to overcome."
Woodland has missed the cut in each of his three starts since the brain surgery.
Woodland shot a 1-under 70 Thursday, tying 14 other golfers for 28th, six strokes off the lead. Thomas, like Woods, shot a 1-over 72, to be among 11 golfers tied for 49th, eight strokes off the lead.
The $20 million Genesis Invitational is among the PGA Tour's Signature Events, limited field events featuring top players with increased prize money and FedEx Cup points. (Those tournaments were referred to as "designated events" in 2023.)
The three player-hosted Signature Events — The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial Tournament — will have a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties plus any player within 10 shots of the lead, with the winner receiving 20% of the prize money, $4 million, up from 18% last year.
The other five Signature Events will have no cut and will continue to allocate 18% to the winner.
The field of 70 includes nine of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, missing only the third-ranked Rahm, who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.