“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could win,” said Tiger Woods, former world number 1 and champion of 15 Grand Slams at a press conference at the Genesis Invitational, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, a tournament he hosts through his Foundation.
An event that he has never won, in which it is his return to the greens after a seven-month absence (British Open in Saint Andrews in July 2022). Tiger has a special relationship with this PGA Tour tournament and the Riviera Country Club course, where it all began for him and where it might as well have ended.
Tiger Wood, statements
It was there that, at the age of 16, while still an amateur, he made his debut on the PGA Tour, after taking his first shots as a child. It is also where he has sponsored the event since 2017 and where he has failed to win in thirteen participations.
Also where, a few kilometers to the south, he had a serious car accident on February 23, 2021. Leaving the club early in the morning after a clinic with sponsors, he left the road brutally, his SUV flipping over several times before ending up on the shoulder of a highway.
He suffered several open fractures in his legs, especially on the right, which gave little hope for his future career. But two years later, Woods is still standing at 47 ‘tacos’ of him. He returned unexpectedly in April 2022 at the Augusta Masters, before playing the PGA Championship in May and then the 150th British Open at the ‘Cathedral’
And if he hasn’t been seen playing since then, it’s because he had to have plantar fasciitis treated (he just played his son Charlie in December at the PNC Championship in Florida). Woods took advantage of the press conference prior to the Genesis to talk about various topics, including, of course, LIV Golf and everything that this new circuit entails.
As for his vision of the Arab Super League, Tiger admits that they are trying to create the best product possible, but he is convinced that the PGA Tour is ahead. And he believes that most of the best players are on the PGA Tour.
But it also put a good cloak on the European Tour. “It has been a turbulent year and we never thought that golf would be in this situation, but it is the reality, it is what it is. We are trying to create the best possible product.
We have to support our global partners like the DP World Tour and to For this we need our best players to understand that we have to play all over the world and create the best possible product,” he told reporters in the Riviera CC press room.
A declaration of intent and full support from the PGA Tour to the European Tour since the conflict with LIV Golf broke out. Regarding the ‘elevated’ tournaments ($20 million in prize money and 20 tournaments per season, the first of them last week in Phoenix, and the second is in Riviera), Woods does not rule out making some adjustments for next year.
“We’re trying to build the best product and we’re still figuring out how to do it. We’ve got a lot of players that are lined up since the Delaware meet and we’re trying to understand all the players, we know we need to create access to these tournaments for everyone, we want to create the next stars.
I was lucky enough to get a waiver from the sponsor at 16. So is that possible with this new model? We have to create opportunities like that. I look back and I was lucky. Byron Nelson asked me to to play in his tournament, Arnold Parmer asked me to play in his tournament.
We don’t want the next stars not to have those opportunities,” said the Californian. Tiger will face the current elite of the PGA Tour, starting with Scottie Scheffler, who reclaimed the world number one title last weekend by winning the Phoenix Open.
Nineteen of the world’s top 20 players, including Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (No.2) and Spaniard Jon Rahm (No.3), will compete in the Genesis. Only, obviously, the Australian Cameron Smith (N.4) will be missing, enrolled in the Super League since summer.
Woods’ ambition is to become the most decorated player in USPGA history, sharing the record for wins (82) with Sam Snead since 2019 and a win at the Zozo Championship. And he knows that the opportunities to do so will be slim.
“Do I want to play more? Yes. Will I be able to? I don’t know. I’m not going to play a full season, so I have to choose my tournaments. It will be the Majors and maybe one or two others. I have to be realistic. .. But I’m going to put all my energy into those events,” he concluded.
