At the PGA Tour event he hosted on Friday, spectators flocked to the clubhouse and first tee, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods before he even hit the ground. That’s always the case wherever Woods plays, but this particular vista, which looked out over the first hole at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, was particularly lovely. The tee is perched on a cliff, and throngs of people gathered to watch Woods from the top of the panorama. They stood with the group in front of him, clapping courteously for Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay, two real contenders for the tournament. The first roar was produced when Woods emerged from behind them and entered the temporary kitchen that was close to the hole. The biggest cheer was heard when Woods truly
Less than two hours later, Woods was heading back toward the clubhouse on a golf cart, leaving the seventh hole behind. At each event he performs, Woods is almost 90% of the draw, so the audience was abuzz with rumors about what had gone wrong. His back, which he claimed had gone into spasms after he shanked a shot on the 18th hole the day before, was the subject of immediate conjecture in the galleries. An emergency vehicle convoy drove up outside the clubhouse a little after 2:00 p.m. An ambulance was backed up to the building by medical staff, and a horde of reporters gathered around, anticipating to see Woods taken to a hospital. However, Woods stayed The day was an agonizingly accurate portrait of what life would be like for Tiger Woods in 2024. Even now, five years after his last Masters victory and during a run of tournaments he finds difficult to begin, let alone finish, no player in golf can command attention like Woods. Since the Masters in 2022, Woods has participated in six tournaments and withdrew from three of them. At 48 years old, he is definitely past the prime of his winning tour tournaments, but not too old to still be competitive. The Saudi Arabian government’s potential partnership with the tour or attempt to overtake it, contingent on the conclusion of ongoing negotiations, is currently golf’s most pressing existential dilemma. However, the additional issue that faces
