Tiger Woods finishes with flourish at Genesis Invitational on long-awaited PGA Tour return

Tiger Woods said he was delighted to finish with three straight birdies on his return to competitive golf after he carded a 2-under-par 69 in the opening round of the Genesis Invitational.

Woods, 47, made his long-awaited comeback to tournament golf at Riviera Country Club on Thursday – his first appearance at that level since missing the cut at the Open last July.

It marked the 15-time major champion’s first non-Major event on the PGA Tour since October 2020.

Woods, the tournament host, began his round with a birdie on the par-5 first before he bogeyed the par-3 fourth. He chipped into a bunker on the 10th to drop another shot, then bogeyed the 12th also.

However, Woods reeled off three consecutive birdies from 16 – he sank a 23-foot putt on 17 to whip the large galleries into a frenzy – to finish in a tie for 27th, five shots off leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell.

"There's nothing like come game time, just the feeling of the butterflies and trying to calm all that stuff down," said Woods, who continues to deal with leg injuries sustained in a serious car crash in February 2021. "The adrenaline, the ball goes further.

"Even though it's cold out here, it was going even further than we expected. I had to dial all that back in. Misses, angles, wind - these are all things that have come second nature to a lot of these guys. I haven't really done this in a while.”

Woods, who was partnered with close friends Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, was playing only his 10th competitive round in the past two years.

Bringing the fans to their feet.@TigerWoods' birdie on 18 as seen from the clubhouse at Riv. pic.twitter.com/KIWb82NX8g

"Ebbs and flows," Woods said. "It was nice that I had this unbelievable pairing, two great guys, two