Tiger Woods showed signs of resiliency on Sunday but just didn’t have the stamina to make a run.
The 15-time major champion closed out his PGA Tour return with a 2-over 73 on Sunday in the final round of the 2023 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, walking off the course tied for 45th place after dazzling the crowd a day prior in the third round.
Woods began the final round with a birdie on his opening hole and proceeded to save a few pars before the wheels on his round slowly started to fall off. From the fairway on No. 5 he missed the green short and left, chipped on and then missed his 4 footer for par. He added two more bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 after both drives found fairway bunkers, leading to failed attempts to scramble for par.
A flubbed chip led to another bogey on No. 12, but Woods was able to bounce back with a 30 footer for birdie from the fringe on his following hole. After the fifth bogey of his round on the par-4 15th, Woods threw a dart to the par-3 16th green to respond yet again with birdie.
The scene on 18 watching Tiger Woods’ final hole of the tournament. @thegenesisinv pic.twitter.com/IbTFaizHnk
— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) February 19, 2023
His ball speed, distance off the tee and accuracy percentages were all lower on Sunday than in the previous three rounds, proof of the toll that 72 holes of golf has taken on his still recovering body. But we’ve seen this before in previous comebacks.
What we learned from Woods’ latest return to PGA Tour action was the 82-time winner still has the will to compete, and at 47 years old, after countless surgeries and operations, his game can still stack up with the best.
It’s just a matter of stamina.
