LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods' return is over.
Woods withdrew from The Genesis Invitational, the event he hosts each year in Southern California and the first official tournament he's played since last year's Masters, on Friday afternoon due to an apparent illness.
Woods hit his tee shot on the seventh hole at Riviera Country Club after a rough start to his second round. After hitting his drive and landing in the fairway, Woods hopped in a cart and left the course, signaling the end of his tournament. He was seen putting his head in his hands at one point on the ride back to the clubhouse.
At the time, Woods was 1-over for his round and 2-over for the tournament.
The Tour and rules official Mark Dusbabek then confirmed that Woods had withdrawn due to an illness. Woods stopped into the bathroom multiple times through his six holes. He was also spotted bent over and leaning on a cooler at the fifth tee box, clearly uncomfortable.
"It's an illness," Dusbabek told Golf Channel. "He's not feeling well."
Woods posted a 1-over 72 to open the Genesis Invitational on Thursday. His first round was incredibly inconsistent all the way through, and he actually shanked what should have been an easy approach shot on the final hole. He said that he was dealing with back spasms during the last stretch of play, which he credited to the brutal fusion procedure he underwent on his back in 2017. He underwent a second fusion procedure on his ankle after he withdrew from the Masters last year, but he said both Wednesday and Thursday that his ankle wasn't bothering him.
It didn’t seem that Woods was in any physical pain due to either his back or his foot on Friday before he withdrew. According to Dusbabek, the back was not the issue Friday.
"Not what we’re being told by him right now," Dusbabek said. "I’m sure that’s part and parcel to the reason, but he’s not feeling well. He’s feeling ill right now.”
Patrick Cantlay was leading the tournament at 10-under on the week when Woods withdrew, though Cantlay was only halfway through his second round. Woods was two shots outside of the projected cutline, so he would have needed a strong finish in the back half of his round on Friday to make it into the weekend.
Woods has long said that he hopes to play in about one tournament each month in 2024, which would allow him to compete in all four major championships. In theory, that will mean that Woods will try to compete in either the Arnold Palmer Invitational or The Players Championship next month.