Tiger Woods made his much-awaited season debut at the 2024 Genesis Invitational. However, he did not make it to the weekend rounds and it was not because he failed to make the cut at the event. Rather, Woods decided to withdraw from the tournament.
The 15-time Major champion withdrew in the middle of The Genesis Invitational citing flu-like symptoms. With visible frustration on his face, Woods was seen being escorted off the course in a golf cart.
Woods took to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm the reason for his withdrawal from the event. He said:
"I would like to confirm that I had to withdraw from Genesis Invitational due to illness, which we now know is influenza. I am resting and feeling better. Good luck to the players this weekend. I’m disappointed to not be there and want to thank Genesis USA and all the fans for the support."
His business partner Robert McNamara spoke to reporters about Tiger Woods experiencing symptoms of poor health since Thursday. He said via CNN:
“He had a little bit of a fever and that, and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy."
Woods left the tournament in a normal tournament vehicle and got treated for the illness.
Tiger Woods receives treatment for influenza after withdrawal from 2024 Genesis Invitational
The 48-year-old was given treatment with an IV bag after the tournament. McNamara further explained the situation about Woods' illness (via CNN):
“Ultimately the doctors are saying he’s got some type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He’s been treated with an IV bag and he’s doing much, much better, and he’ll be released on his own here soon.”
Woods' 2024 season is not off to the best start. However, he will be looking to come back to play the Masters in April.
The 2024 Genesis Invitational has been a rollercoaster ride so far. Aside from Tiger Woods withdrawing from the tournament, Jordan Spieth got disqualified from the tournament for signing the wrong score on the scorecard.
Patrick Cantlay is five strokes ahead of the rest of the field as he sits at the top of the leaderboard, with Mackenzie Hughes, Luke List and Jason Day sitting in joint second place at the time of writing.