Tiger Woods announced on Friday that he will tee it up and play in next week’s Genesis Invitational, where he also serves as the tournament host.
Tiger Woods will tee it up in next week’s @TheGenesisInv.
Woods has eight career victories at Torrey Pines. pic.twitter.com/r8K8Og4p6N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2025
The 49-year-old played five events last year on the PGA TOUR, starting with The Genesis Invitational. He shot an opening-round 72 to sit at +1, but he was forced to withdraw after six holes in Round 2, due to an illness he later confirmed was the flu.
He played The Masters last April and made the cut, finishing T60 after fading over the weekend. Woods also played the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, but he failed to make the cut in those three majors.
One reason this year’s Genesis Invitational is different from last year’s is that the venue has shifted due to the California wildfires in the area around Riviera Country Club. The well-known and famous Torrey Pines South Course will host this year’s event down the coast in San Diego.
Woods has an impressive career resume at Torrey Pines, where he won the 2008 U.S. Open. In that iconic victory, Woods defeated Rocco Mediate in the first sudden-death hole after an 18-hole playoff round on Monday. He birdied the final hole on Sunday and the final hole of the 18-hole playoff on Monday to force Mediate to keep playing. Woods was hobbled throughout his victory, and he announced just two days later that he would miss the rest of the season due to knee surgery.
That famous victory wasn’t the only time Woods hoisted the trophy at Torrey Pines. He also had seven victories in the regular PGA TOUR stop at the venue, including four straight wins from 2005-2008. He finished in the top 25 in each of his last three trips to Torrey Pines at the Farmers Insurance Open, finishing T9 in 2020 in his last stop here.
While his lack of recent competition makes him an incredibly high risk play for DFS or betting markets next week, he does have enough history and gravitas that his return to Torrey Pines will be one of the most exciting storylines to watch in the PGA TOUR’s third Signature Event of the season.
Even though this is a Signature Event, there will be a cut. Tiger stated last year that he was in favor of keeping a cut in the player-hosted Signature Events, and now he’ll be one of the players looking to make that cut and play the weekend. The limited field of 70 golfers will be reduced to the top 50 players and ties as well as any player within 10 strokes of the lead after the conclusion of the second round.
