Tiger Woods’ brief return, Jordan Spieth’s error – Five things we learned from the Genesis Invitational

The third ‘Signature Event’ of the PGA Tour season had all the ingredients to be a real showstopper with an elite field, including the long-awaited return of a certain Tiger Woods, at a world-class course in Riviera Country Club.

Despite a bizarre second round in which we lost both Tiger and Jordan Spieth for very different reasons, the tournament still delivered, and it was Hideki Matsuyama who stole the show on Sunday underneath the Hollywood lights.

Here are the five takeaways from a strange week at the Genesis Invitational.

It was the talk of the town, the tour and the world of golf. Tiger Woods was going to be playing in a PGA Tour event, the first official start since he was in too much pain to walk and withdrew from last year’s Masters during the third round.

The tournament host produced some eye-catching moments during his first round, where he was grouped with good friends Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland, who is also not long back after time away due to brain surgery.

He rattled off five birdies, but he coupled that with six bogeys as competitive rust caught up with him, as did his fused spine where an uncharacteristic shank coming down the 18th was a result of back spasms.

Events took an even more dramatic turn when an ambulance and two fire trucks turned up at the Riviera clubhouse.

There was a sigh of relief after Woods was later seen walking out of the clubhouse and into the passenger seat of a waiting courtesy car.

We soon learned that Woods had received treatment, including an IV bag, for potential dehydration and dizziness related to illness, which was confirmed by his long-time friend Rob McNamara.

“He had a little bit of a fever and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy,” McNamara said. “Ultimately the doctors are saying he’s got 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.”

Asked if it had anything to do with Woods’ previous injuries to his ankle or back, McNamara said: “Not physical at all. His back is fine. It was all medical illness, dehydration, which is now, the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he’s had an IV.”

As a result, Woods wasn’t present on the Riviera property on Sunday where he traditionally presents the trophy but he took to social media to share an update:

Hideki Matsuyama started his final round in a tie for seventh and six shots back of overnight leader – and the seemingly unflappable – Patrick Cantlay. However, little did anyone know of the scintillating golf that Matsuyama would go on to produce in a dramatic finale.

The 2021 Masters champion has struggled the last couple of years with niggling neck and back injuries, but they certainly looked to be a thing of the past as the Japanese star came firing out the blocks with three birdies in-a-row to start his round.

As Cantlay faltered behind, Luke List and Will Zalatoris took a run at the top spot, but untimely bogeys derailed any hopes they had as a red-hot Matsuyama kept his foot firmly on the gas.

Matsuyama started his back nine as he did his front, with a hat-trick of birdies as he put on a ball-striking masterclass. We were witnessing one of the great rounds at Riviera Country Club that only went on to get better as he threw darts at the 15th and 16th pins for tap-in birdies. He would then birdie the 17th to complete another trio of birdies to take him to 17-under for the tournament and 9-under for his round.

In a rare display of emotion, the 31-year-old pumped his fist on the 18th as he rolled home a closing par to effectively seal the deal and win for the first time since the Sony Open in 2022.

His 62 was the lowest final-round score in the history of the tournament and saw him win for a ninth time on the PGA Tour, becoming the record holder for most PGA Tour wins by an Asian player, surpassing South Korea’s K.J. Choi.

Speaking after his round, Matsuyama admitted that playing free of any fear aided him on his way to success.

“Ever since that injury, I was worried every week that something bad might happen to my neck,” he said. “This week I played without any worries so that really helped too.”

Just when we thought events couldn’t get any stranger after losing to Tiger Woods to illness, Jordan Spieth had a bit of a mathematical mix-up.

The Texan, who had success around Riviera during college, started impressively, signing for a 5-under 66 to find himself only two shots back heading into Friday’s second round.

His Friday looked promising too, that was until he reached the par-3 fourth hole. Spieth had taken four shots but had incorrectly jotted down three on his scorecard, a faux pas that would later be cemented as he signed for it in the scorer’s tent at the conclusion of his round which, by the letter of law, automatically disqualified him.

Spieth was running hot in many ways which may have been a factor in this unfortunate oversight. Not only did he have a turgid back nine which was punctuated by an ugly double bogey, but it soon transpired, not long after the Tiger news, that he too was struggling with illness.

His discomfort was later confirmed by playing partner Xander Schauffele. “He was really sick and he had a rough last hole, I can see how it all went down.

“I heard he had to go to the restroom and came back like a minute later and the card was wrong,” Schauffele said. “Maybe there needs to be some sort of softening on the rules, but for the most part we all kind of know what goes on in there. It’s really unfortunate it happened.”

Spieth owned his mistake and posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It did ignite a plethora of comments on the rule though, with many people involved in the game calling for it to be changed.

Veteran caddie, Kip Henley, commented on Spieth’s post saying, “Another benchmark in the dumbest rule in all of sport.”

While Mike McGhee, husband of the legendary Annika Sorenstam, would add: “It’s time to stop the nonsense of players being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. That rule was meant for the old days when it was only the players in the group that could vouch for each other.

“Today there are hundreds if not thousands of people following these marquee groups each week. Everybody knows what everybody shot. Computers, walking scorers, media, etc. A simple scorecard signing error should not matter.”

The sight of Will Zalatoris back on tour has been welcomed by his fellow players and fans alike. The 27-year-old underwent career-threatening back surgery last year to try and rectify intense pain caused by herniated discs pressing on his spinal nerves.

It has been a long, jolting, road back for the Californian but his game has been trending in the right direction with results improving week on week since his return at the Sony Open a little over a month ago.

Zalatoris’ week in Los Angeles got off to a flier as he sat only two back of the lead on Thursday. Despite a ho-hum Friday, both he and his caddie collected the keys to pair of new Genesis vehicles thanks to his hole-in-one at the par-3 14th hole.

It was these moments of magic that reminded us of the Zalatoris that not so long ago was contending at majors and consistently coming close week in, week out, on tour.

Moving day saw Zalatoris record his best round of the week with a 65 which put him firmly in contention on Sunday. He came within one of the lead through 14 holes on the final day but a costly bogey and a Matsuyama magic show put an end to his chances. He would ultimately finish in a tie for second.

An arduous week was highlighted further when Zalatoris welled up during his post-round interview.

“I lost a family member on Thursday, and she was – she was with me all week. You know, was pretty special on Friday to make the hole-in-one after – sorry. Pretty special to make the hole-in-one on Friday after I found out on Thursday. She was with me all week.”

“This whole week was for her,” he added. “My family can’t be here no matter what would have happened, but very proud of how I played. Just shows you life’s short and appreciate the moments, how lucky I am to be out here.”

As it turned out, the story of Will Zalatoris at The Genesis Invitational was one of perspective as well as perseverance.

It had already been a bizarre week when we came oh-so-close to having Tom Kim missing his tee time.

While he and veteran Tour caddie Paul Tesori were going through the motions on the practice green, fine-tuning the last details and conversing, someone kindly notified Kim that he only had 60 seconds to make it to the first tee, otherwise he’d receive a two-shot penalty.

With playing partner Rickie Fowler already waiting, cameras captured the 21-year-old running from the practice green, which typically for him at the time was at the furthest point away from the tee. As his fellow competitors looked on in a rather confused fashion, Kim exited the green and did in fact manage to make his tee time – just.

“We had 27 minutes to go when we first got to the putting green,” said the three-time PGA Tour winner, who shot 69 to finish 5-under. “And it felt like only 15 minutes had gone by. Then somebody said, ‘You have one minute before you tee off.’

“If I’m not there when we’re announced, it’s a two-shot penalty and I shoot even par today instead of 2-under. I made sure I wasn’t late, and literally 10, 15 seconds later he called the tee. I was fortunate. I’m never late for tee times.”