Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational
Tiger Woods blasts out of a bunker on the way to a two-under par opening round at the Genesis Invitational, his first US PGA Tour event since July. GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP/RONALD MARTINEZ

KEY POINTS

  • Tiger Woods is currently competing at Genesis Invitational
  • He was grouped with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy in the first two rounds
  • Woods outdrove his playing partners in the first round

Tiger Woods has apologised for any offence he caused after he discreetly handed Justin Thomas a tampon at the ongoing Genesis Invitational tournament.

Woods, who returned to competitive action after a long break, gave Thomas a tampon after outdriving him in the first round of the tournament at Riviera. It occurred as the American duo walked off the ninth tee, with Thomas laughing it off before dropping the tampon on the ground.

Photos and videos of Woods giving Thomas the tampon began to circulate on social media. Woods, who is tied in the record for most PGA Tour wins, received massive criticism for his act as many stated that it was disrespectful to women.

Speaking in a press conference after the second round, Woods said that he did it only in a fun way, but had he offended anyone in any way, and he would like to apologise.

"It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn't turned out that way. If I offended anybody in any way, shape, or form, I'm sorry. It was not intended to be that way. We play pranks on one another all the time and virally I think this did not come across that way, but between us it was, it's different," 47-year-old Woods told reporters.

The Genesis Invitational tournament that is underway is Woods' first competitive PGA Tour appearance since he missed the cut at The Open in July. In the first two rounds at Genesis Invitational, Woods was grouped with PGA Championship winner Thomas and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.

Woods, however, was not asked about the incident until he completed his second round. He apologised eventually after he carded a three-over-par 74 on Friday to leave him one over par after two rounds.

Meanwhile, Mcllroy, Woods' partner in the first two rounds at Genesis, admitted later that he did not enjoy being outdriven by the 47-year-old golfer.

"I'm going to go work on the range. I put my driver up a click in loft at the start of the week, I might have to turn it back down again. I don't like him hitting it by me," said Mcllroy.

In February 2021, Woods, who was then recovering from a fifth back surgery, had crashed his car in Los Angeles. He met with the accident just two days after the Genesis Invitational tournament, suffering several fractures on his right leg and ankle.

The accident sidelined Woods for 14 months before he returned to action in the 2022 Masters. He then made the cut at Augusta National, and in the following month's US PGA Championship, but withdrew following the third round.

Woods then missed the cut in the Open at St. Andrews and was forced to withdraw from the Hero World Challenge in the first week of December after developing plantar fasciitis in his right foot.