A 47-year-old man with one leg who hadn’t participated in a competitive event in seven months and had only shot one round in the 60s in the previous 800 days naturally stole the show at the biggest event of the year.
Tiger Woods shot a 2-under 69 on Thursday in the first round of the Genesis Invitational to take the lead from Max Homa and Keith Mitchell (both 7 under), who were tied for the lead when play was halted due to darkness, and world-class golfer Jon Rahm, who is 6 under and in the running to win for the third time in 2023.
Genesis Invitational: Round1’s Position
After the completion of Round 1 in the 2023 Genesis Invitational, the position of the players is updated in the leaderboard. Max Homa T1(-7) and Keith Mitchell T1(-7) got the leading position.
Other contenders are Jon Hahm 3(-6), Harris English T4(-5), Matt Kuchar T4(-5), Collin Morikawa T4(-5), Rory Mcllroy T7(-4). Ranking of T7 got by Ghim, Hadwin, Hodges, Hoge, Mcllroy, Svensson, and Vegas.
- Tiger Woods shot a 2-under 69 on Thursday in the first round of the Genesis Invitational.
- Lead got by Max Homa and Keith Mitchell (both 7 under).
- Woods chipped into a bunker on hole 10 while playing with Rory McIlroy (67) and Justin Thomas (68).
The most recent 2023 Genesis Invitational odds from Caesars Sportsbook have Rahm as the 7-1 favorite after winning two of his last four starts. On the PGA odds board, he is followed by McIlroy (10-1), Scheffler (10-1), Xander Schauffele (14-1), and Thomas (15-1). Woods, who has won 82 times on the PGA Tour, is a 120-1 long shot.
Woods chipped into a bunker on hole 10 while playing with Rory McIlroy (67) and Justin Thomas (68), resulting in one of the day’s three bogeys.
But he ignited the crowd by sinking a putt of more than 23 feet on hole 17 to finish five shots behind leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell (both 64).
Because it had been a while since he had played, Woods said, “I probably should have appreciated the fans more than I did. However, there was so much going on in my head trying to get the ball in the right spots and with the right feels.
Due to darkness, the tournament was called off. The few players who had not finished the first round were scheduled to resume play on Friday at 7:45 a.m. (15:45 GMT).
