The American’s return to an official PGA Tour tournament lasted only 24 holes: he didn’t feel well and left the game on a cart. An ambulance also arrived and he was treated with IV drips. Then he got better and left the Riviera alone
This time the flu is to blame. Tiger Woods’ return to an official PGA Tour tournament lasted just 24 holes. Woods retired Friday at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in Los Angeles after just six holes. He hit the tee shot on seven, but then, feverish and dehydrated, he got on a cart and was taken to the clubhouse where he was treated with intravenous fluids and immediately improved. Rob McNamara, his longtime collaborator and vice president of TGR Ventures, explained that Woods felt flu-like symptoms on Thursday evening, which worsened when he woke up: “He had a bit of a fever and was better during the warm-up, but then, when he He went out onto the pitch and started walking and playing, he started to feel dizzy.” Woods then left Riviera about two hours after retiring, sitting in the front seat of a red SUV. The arrival of an ambulance and a vehicle from the Los Angeles Fire Department also contributed to making the situation more worrying. A PGA Tour official said bags of IV fluid were needed and there were none at Riviera, so paramedics had to deliver them. Tiger hadn’t played an official event since the Masters last April, when he retired midway through the third round after a rain delay. In December he played the unofficial Hero World Challenge with a field of just 20 players, without any cuts, and the 36-hole PNC Championship with his son Charlie. Woods has played just six official tournaments since he returned from a February 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that shattered bones in his right leg. And on three occasions he had to withdraw. Woods’ plans for this year were to play one tournament a month. Next up could be the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida on March 7. In addition to Woods, the Genesis Invitational lost another protagonist because Jordan Spieth was disqualified for having signed a wrong score, scoring a 3 on a hole where he actually made a 4. It is the first time this has happened to him in his career. He could have fought for the victory this weekend because after the first two laps he was only three shots behind leader Patrick Cantlay.