Tiger Tracker: He\’s Back 🐯

February 16, 2023

By: Carlos Alvarez

Tiger Woods Set to Tee Off at Genesis Invitational — His 1st Event Since July 2022

 

If sports fans needed something to get excited about post-Super Bowl, he’s here. Tiger Woods is back in the golf spotlight this weekend at the Genesis Invitational where he’ll compete in his first official event since last year’s Open Championship in July. It’s been 216 days fans last saw Tiger in a competitive format — the fifth-longest layoff of his career. Tiger, 47, battled back from the devastating car accident that took him away from golf two years ago. He previously stated that he’s not retired, but he’ll only compete in select events throughout the golf calendar. So what’s special about this weekend?

 

Tiger’s Love for Riviera

The host of the Genesis Invitational — the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles — is well-known as one of Tiger’s favorite courses. He knows it well, and he’s played it 14 times. The Riviera was the first course Woods ever played on the PGA Tour (Nissan Open, 1992). He’s played 14 Tour events at the Riviera in his career, and he’s never won. Consider it a story he’s chasing — finally conquering a course that’s beat him throughout his career.

 

Eye of the Tiger 

Woods is also still sitting at 82 career wins, tied with Sam Snead for the most in golf history. He obviously has his sights set on breaking that mark before he hangs it up, but I think we can look at his weekend at Riviera as a tune-up for the upcoming stretch of spring majors — The Masters (April), PGA Championship (May), U.S. Open (June) and Open Championship (July).

 

Tiger Woods and 23 of the top 25 players in the world are about to tee off. Golf fans, get your Tiger Tracker ready…

 

Tee Times (Featured Groups)

10:24 AM: J. Rahm, P. Cantlay, V. Hovland

10:35 AM: T. Finau, B. Horschel, A. Scott

10:46 AM: M. Homa, T. Kim, X. Schauffele

10:57 AM: J. Poston, R. Fowler, M. Kuchar

2:53 PM: S. Kim, M. Fitzpatrick, N. Taylor

3:04 PM: R. McIlroy, J. Thomas, T. Woods

3:15 PM: S. Scheffler, J. Spieth, C. Morikawa

3:26 PM: J. Rose, H. Matsuyama, S. Lowry

All Tee Times (Eastern)

 

Additional Storylines

Yahoo! Sports: Tiger Woods ‘Playing to Win’ This Week at Genesis Invitational

CBS Sports: 2023 Genesis Invitational Predictions, Expert Picks, Odds & Best Bets as Tiger Woods Returns

 

Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images