Tiger Woods made an encouraging return to competitive action in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
The 15-time Major winner finished tied for 45th in the tournament on one under par, a performance that included a four under 67 on Saturday. As well as offering plenty of hope that he could return to something approaching his best form in the future, the display also gave Woods a significant boost in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Woods began the tournament as World No.1294 and jumped over 300 places – 309, to be exact - to World No.985. Of course, that is still far from the level a player who has spent 683 weeks as World No.1 is accustomed to, but it is nevertheless another sign that, following a disjointed 2022, he is far better prepared to challenge towards the top of leaderboards this year.
While Woods was encouraged by his progress in the tournament, he admitted afterwards that his body will never again allow him to play a full PGA Tour schedule, but he sounded confident that could commit to more than the three tournaments he played last year. He said: “I'm not going to play any more than probably the Majors and maybe a couple more. That's it, that's all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can't. That's just going to be my future.
“So, my intent last year was to play in all four Majors, I got three of the four. Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there. But that's it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That's just my reality.”
While a limited schedule will undoubtedly curtail his efforts to climb the OWGR, it may not be beyond the realms of possibility for him to gain further respectability in the coming months.
After all, had Woods claimed a maiden victory in the Genesis Invitational, he could have jumped over 1,200 places and back into the world’s top 50. Given how he performed at times in the tournament, with flashes of brilliance including an eagle during the third round, there is every reason to believe that, with less rustiness and more physical fitness, his dream of winning an 83rd PGA Tour event - and the sizeable world rankings leap that would bring - may yet come to fruition.
