Tiger Woods says he’s feeling better. He says he’s resting.
And he also confirmed via a Saturday statement what had been speculated a day earlier, when he stunningly withdrew from the Genesis Invitational.
He has influenza.
His social media posts consisted of only four sentences, leaving uncertainty about whether he, as the host of the tournament, would participate in the Genesis final round on Sunday. This update added to the ongoing flurry of news surrounding Woods.
He made his first PGA Tour appearance since April last year, when he pulled out of the Masters. He scored an inconsistent one-over 72 in the first round on Thursday. He successfully hit five birdies but also had six bogeys and one shanked shot. He attributed the mishit to a back spasm he experienced. On Friday, at the Genesis tournament, Tiger Woods started the second round well by making a birdie.
However, his playing partner, Gary Woodland, noticed that Woods seemed to be in poor form. There were rumors that Woods had to make several stops at the bathroom. By the time they reached the 7th hole, Woods decided to withdraw, and PGA Tour rules official Pete Dachisen escorted him back to the clubhouse. Mark Dusbabek caused uncertainty by informing Golf Channel viewers that his withdrawal was not related to his back injury, but rather due to an illness.
Emergency vehicles arrived at Riviera, with medical personnel coming in and out of the clubhouse regularly. Eventually, the fire trucks and ambulance departed.
Woods arrived later, following the group. Around 3:40 p.m. local time, Woods left the area, being driven away in a red Genesis coupe by an official.
“Through the PGA Tour communications team, Rob McNamara, a close associate of Woods, issued a statement consisting of questions and answers.”
Question: “With the WD, was it purely illness? Was it — just explain it.”
McNamara: “Yeah. So he started feeling some flu-like symptoms last night. Woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous. He had a little bit of a fever and that, and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy. Ultimately the doctors are saying he’s got some — potentially some type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He’s been treated with an IV bag and he’s doing much, much better and he’ll be released on his own here soon.”
Question “Just to confirm, with all the EMT trucks, you know, everybody, the personnel here, everybody was thinking there was a lot of seriousness going on. So nothing structural as far as back or ankle or …”
McNamara: “Correct, correct. Not physical at all; his back’s fine. It was all medical illness, dehydration, which is now the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he’s had an IV.”
After completing his round, Woodland commented that Woods appeared to be in less than optimal condition.” “He seemed more subdued,” Woodland stated. “It’s cut day, so everyone is striving to perform well, particularly the entire group is trying to concentrate and elevate our game. I feel sorry for him, he wasn’t doing well.
He was definitely pushing through it, and I hope he’s okay.” On Saturday, Woods stated that he was present. His social media accounts posted the following message at 10:15 p.m. local time. “I am confirming that I had to pull out of @thegenesisinv because of illness, specifically influenza.
I am currently resting and starting to feel better. Wishing good luck to all the players participating this weekend.
It is disappointing for me not to be able to attend, but I want to express my gratitude to @GenesisUSA and all the supporters for their encouragement.”
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