PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — The strange scenes and situations for Tiger Woods are over.
For over 20 years, Woods has amazed the world with what he can do on the golf course, winning 15 major championships and 82 total tournaments, dominating golf like no one has ever seen before.
Now, Woods has become a sad sideshow, one that makes you wonder why he keeps going through this at age 48 and seemingly having new health problems every time he plays in a tournament. ing.
In the latest drama involving Woods, he was forced off the course midway through the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Friday and withdrew with what was described as an “illness.” is being featured.
What happened from there was, frankly, bizarre even by Woods’ standards.
A Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance backed up to the side entrance to the clubhouse and waited there for about 45 minutes before someone came out of the clubhouse and announced that they were not coming out.
So an empty stretcher was brought out of the building, slipped into an ambulance, and drove off with two fire engines.
Shortly afterward, Woods’ manager and business partner, Rob McNamara, issued a statement saying that Woods “started feeling flu-like symptoms last night and woke up this morning feeling worse than the night before.” He had a little fever, which got better during warm-ups, but when he went outside to walk or play, he started feeling dizzy. Doctors eventually determined that he had some type of flu and was dehydrated. He has been treated with an IV bag and is doing much better. ”
Shortly after McNamara’s statement was released, at 3:45 p.m. local time, Woods finally emerged from the locker room, gingerly climbed into the passenger seat of a red SUV and drove away. It’s unclear whether he, as tournament organizer with his own foundation, will be on hand throughout the weekend to award trophies to the winners.
McNamara clarified that Woods’ problems Friday had nothing to do with the structural issues he has been dealing with since having his back and leg surgically fused.
“Physically, I’m perfectly fine,” McNamara said. “His back is fine. It was all medical, dehydration, but now that he’s on an IV, his symptoms are improving.”
The good news is that this latest drama has nothing to do with Woods’ previous physical ailments, and there were no obvious setbacks.
The more somber news is this. Since Woods crashed his SUV into a tree at high speed the day after the 2021 Genesis Invitational, he has played in just six 72-hole PGA Tour events and completed just two of them. His remaining four are miscuts.
This is now Woods’ sad reality.
And you wonder why he keeps coming back. He no longer needs all the victories and countless millions of riches. But what’s definitely fascinating about Woods is that he can still flash the ball, he can still putt, and he can still do a lot of the things he’s always done.
sometimes.
It’s clear he’s still competitive and doesn’t want to let it go.
Woods looks like an aging star trying to convince himself he can still win, even though he hasn’t won since his historic victory at the 2019 Masters.
Woods, who was playing alongside Gary Woodland and Justin Thomas, didn’t feel well beyond the six holes he played on Friday.
He said he unusually used a portable toilet while playing the fifth hole before going out. He then returned to the hole after the fifth hole and teed off on the sixth hole.
On the seventh hole tee shot, he grimaced as if he had hit a poor shot, but the ball landed in the middle of the fairway. In the end, this was his last swing of the tournament, as a rules official was summoned to cart him to the clubhouse, where the ambulance drama was about to begin.
“I saw it, he obviously wasn’t who he was, it just didn’t look right,” Woodland said. “I saw it before the round started. It sucks. Obviously, everything was better for him in his first tournament back and he just couldn’t finish the way he wanted. That’s unfortunate for all of us.
“He just didn’t look good. He was more quiet. Obviously, today is cut day, so we’re all trying to play well, especially the whole group being focused and paying attention.” Trying to pick it up and play well. I feel bad for him. He was definitely trying to get through it and I hope he’s okay.”
