'It's the Best I've Played:' Tiger Woods Fires 67 at Riviera for Lowest Score Since Car Crash
LOS ANGELES – The sample size, of course, is small. Just 12 official rounds over the past two years, with far more grimacing than glory. But this one was different.
It was the lowest score, yes. It was also the best Tiger Woods has played since his comeback from the car crash that occurred near Riviera Country Club two years ago.
The 4-under-par 67 on Saturday during the third round of the Genesis Invitational did not put him in position to win the tournament, as he was hoping it might. (He’s 12 shots back of tournament leader Jon Rahm.)
But given all that has transpired and seeing just how difficult it was for him to move after the round, finishing in a tie for 26th Saturday after making the cut on the number was a pretty inspiring result.
“It’s the best I’ve played,’’ said Woods, who made five birdies and a bogey and needed just 27 putts. “I’ve been pretty one dimensional in how I hit my tee shots. I’ve kind of gone to my stock shot, because I just haven’t played enough where I feel like I can hit different shots. I had gone to a shot I know I can hit and I can hit it all different trajectories, which is kind of what I do.
“The way the golf course is playing, as fast as it is, a flat cut can go a very long way here, so I’ve been able to hit that shot. Then with the firm greens, I thoroughly enjoy that for my iron game, and finally made some putts.’’
After struggling on the greens during a Friday 74, Woods made some adjustments and saw far more success. He also didn’t stress himself as much by missing greens in awkward spots, save for the seventh hole where he had very little room to work with and settled for his only bogey of the day.
But Woods is doing some impressive things despite this being his first official event since the British Open in July. On Saturday, he was seventh in the field in driving distance as well as strokes gained off the tee. His strokes gained approach was 18th. And his putting was 16th. The numbers aren’t as good for the tournament overall, but this is an event with 19 of the top 20 players in the world.
The fact that he is ahead of several of them should not be underplayed. The 67 was his best round since he opened the 2020 Masters played that year in November with a 68. It was his best Saturday score since he shot 66 on his way to victory at the 2019 ZOZO Championship.
And a top-25 finish on Sunday would be his best since he tied for ninth at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open.
“His game was really solid, I was really impressed,’’ said Matthias Schwab, who played the third round with Woods along with Christiaan Bezuidenhout. “He didn’t really hit any bad shots except for maybe on 6, the par 3. Really solid. Yeah, 4 under around this course is really good.’’
The round was a good test considering how poorly Woods played during the third round of both the Masters and PGA Championship last year. In both cases, it was clear his leg and ankle were hurting.
This time, Woods seemed far more comfortable, although it was obvious when it was over that he was hurting. After doing several interviews and being stationary for a period of time, his ability to move around again was clearly impacted.
This is what Woods must deal with and why he would not commit to playing another event prior to the Masters in April. An earlier tee time of 8:16 local time (11:16 a.m. ET) gives him even less time to recuperate and prepare.
“Hopefully tomorrow go out and play a good one, post this event, we'll go ahead and reassess everything and see where we are, see how I recover from a full tournament,’’ he said. “I haven't done this in a while. The last time I did it was at the Open Championship, so it's been a while. Hopefully the body will still feel good sometime later next week. As of right now, recovery time will be fun.’’