The ‘golf emperor’ returns after 7 months.
The American Professional Golf (PGA) tour ‘Genesis Invitational’ (total prize money of 20 million dollars, 25.3 billion won), which is receiving a lot of attention as the return stage of Tiger Woods (USA), was held on the 17th (Korean time)안전놀이터 in Palisades, near Los Angeles, California, USA. It opens at the Riviera Country Club (par 71) in
The Korean automobile brand Genesis serves as the title sponsor and Woods serves as the official host, and this tournament is one of the 17 special events designated by the PGA Tour. Following the WM Phoenix Open last week, a special tournament with a total prize money of 20 million dollars will follow for two consecutive weeks. A large number of top-ranked players such as Scotty Scheffler (USA), who won 5 personal wins at the Phoenix Open and rose to No. 1 in the world rankings, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), No. 2, and Jon Rahm (Spain), No. 3, will participate.
The biggest concern is, of course, Woods’ performance. Woods, who suffered a car accident after hosting the Genesis Invitational as a host rather than a player in February 2021, returned to the field through the Masters Tournament in April of last year after a year of rehabilitation. I participated in the PNC Championship, a year-end event last year, but this is my first regular PGA Tour event in seven months since The Open in July last year.
It is a regular tournament where all four rounds must be played, so it is an opportunity to see how much Woods’ stamina and performance have recovered. If you evaluate it coldly, Woods cannot be seen as a championship candidate. He did not even make it to the 15-man list of the tournament’s “Power Rankings” announced by the PGA Tour on its website. However, the return of the golf emperor is enough to attract keen interest.
The long-standing relationship between Woods and the Riviera Country Club is also being talked about again. Woods made his unofficial debut on the PGA Tour in 1992, while still a high school student, at the Nissan LA Open, the predecessor of the Genesis Invitational, at the same Riviera as this time. However, Woods has not been able to reach the top even once in the 14 tournaments held on this course. This is the only course where Woods has not won more than 10 times.
Six Korean players will participate in this tournament. Lim Seong-jae (25), Kim Joo-hyung (21), Lee Kyung-hoon (32), Kim Si-woo (28), and Kim Seong-hyun (25) threw their ballots, and after winning the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Genesis Championship last year, they won the grand prize and prize money. Kim Yeong-soo (34), who had previously played, is invited by a sponsor to compete.