Tiger Woods wants to retire from golf, but the icon must continue playing and making appearances to support his brand and new clothing line ‘Sun Day Red’.
Woods returned to the PGA Tour this week and lasted just 24 holes, withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational on Friday with flu-like symptoms and dehydration after hitting his tee shot on the seventh hole at Riviera.
He was one over par for the round (two over for the tournament) and projected just outside the cut when he called for a cart and was pulled off the course by a rules official. He had been walking slowly and seemed out of energy playing on the front nine.
Woods had not played in an official event since last April’s Masters, and withdrew in the middle of the rain-delayed third round. He played the unofficial Hero World Challenge in December against an uncut 20-man field, and the 36-hole PNC Championship with his son, Charlie.
Woods has played six official tournaments since returning from a February 2021 car accident in Los Angeles that broke bones in his right leg. He withdrew from three of them: the 2022 PGA Championship after 54 holes, the 2023 Masters when he didn’t return Sunday morning to complete the third round.
Tiger Woods wants to retire from golf but the icon must continue playing to support his brand
Woods withdrew from the Genesis Invitational on Friday with flu-like symptoms and dehydration
Woods had said he hoped to play one tournament a month during the main season. He had said Thursday that he was experiencing back spasms, which caused his leg to be injured on the final hole when he began the tournament with a 72.
In addition to playing, Woods hosts the Genesis Invitational tournament run by his TGR foundation.
His week in Los Angeles started with a lot of excitement: the launch of his new clothing line with TaylorMade Golf and his first start of the year on the PGA Tour.
But a source told DailyMail.com that Woods wants to step away from golf but continues to play and make appearances to support his brand.
They said, ‘If Tiger could retire, he would.
“His body is beat up but, because of his brand, he still has to make and keep up appearances and try.”
‘After his car accident, he thought that was it. There was almost an amputation involved, so coming back is kind of a miracle.
“Now, with this recent illness that kept him out of the last tournament, it’s unfortunate, but he’ll be back because he has to support his new Sun Day Red brand and everything else in his world.
“He will return although he would love nothing more than to retire.”
Woods launched his new ‘Sun Day Red’ clothing line with TaylorMade Golf in Los Angeles this week
Woods left Riviera about two hours after retiring, sitting in the front seat of a red pickup truck as it left.
Rob McNamara, his longtime partner and vice president of TGR Ventures, said Woods felt flu-like symptoms Thursday night that worsened when he woke up.
“He had a little fever and he was better during the warm-up, but then when he came out and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy,” McNamara told a PGA Tour official.
‘In the end, the doctors say he potentially has some kind of flu and was dehydrated. He’s been treated with an IV bag and is much, much better, and will soon be discharged on his own.’
“He obviously wasn’t himself, he just didn’t look good. I saw him before the round started,” said Gary Woodland, who played in the same group as Woods and Justin Thomas.
“Obviously everything is better with him there and for him in his first tournament back and he couldn’t go out and finish the way he wanted to, that sucks for all of us.”
Woodland said he noticed Woods was calmer than usual, even though everyone was trying to make sure they were in the top 50 to make the cut.
‘I feel bad for him. He wasn’t right,” Woodland said. “He was definitely trying to get over it and I hope he’s okay.”