‘I was trying to calm myself all day’ – Tiger Woods overcomes nerves to thrill fans in return to PGA Tour

Tiger Woods said that he was trying to remain as calm as possible despite the loud fans on his hotly-anticipated return to PGA Tour action at the Genesis Invitational.

The tournament is Woods’ first professional tournament since last July’s Open Championship at St Andrews.

“It was a lot louder [than I expected]. I haven’t played in a tournament in a long time. I didn’t really look up as much. I probably should have, but I didn’t,” the 47-year-old said.

“I was trying to calm myself down all day, trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing out here because I haven’t played. I had to try and figure out what the chess match is going to be. Misses, angles, wind, these are all things that have come second nature to a lot of these guys.

“I haven’t really done this in a while. So I was so focused on what I was trying to do, talking to Joey [LaCava, Woods’ caddie], trying to figure it all out.

“I probably should have appreciated the fans more than I did, but there was so much going on in my head trying to get the ball in the correct spots and the correct feels just because I haven’t done this in a while.”

Woods also told reporters that it helped to play alongside Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, as he finished with three straight birdies to close his first round with a two-under-par 69.

“It was nice that I had this unbelievable pairing. Two great guys, two great friends. The people were obviously very supportive; they were just cheering all of us on, which is great. And it just made this whole tournament better. I happened to actually hit some good shots finally and made a couple putts… It was a nice finish.”

The return marked a different Woods than fans have seen in years past, with the American having to accommodate his golf to an injury he sustained on his right leg and foot in a car accident in 2021.

“I was able to simulate nerves at home because I’ve come off layoffs before, and I was able to simulate that stuff, but there’s nothing like come game time just the feeling of the butterflies and trying to calm all that stuff down: the adrenaline, the ball goes further, even though it’s cold out here, it was going even further than we expected. I had to dial all that back in.

“I’m a little bit sore right now. We were laughing, joking in the scoring tent here, Rory’s going to go down and hit some drivers, I said I’ll be right there, right behind you.

“I need to go, and we can do some treatment and get this thing ready for tomorrow. There’s a lot of ice going on here. As soon as I get back to the hotel, it’s just icing and treatment and icing and treatment, just hit repeat throughout the whole night. Get ready, warmed up tomorrow, get this big sweat going on, big lift in the morning and stay warm and get off to a good start on 10.

“My ankle is a lot smaller than it has been. I’ve had so many surgeries that the ankle just keep changing, the leg keeps changing. Yes, the shoes keep changing, the socks keep changing.

“Everything’s a moving target. How much I’m on my feet, how much I’m not, how active I am, how not active, the muscles that are on, they’re off. It’s a moving target all the time.

“Look at where we were last year, it has completely changed and it will continue to change. Unfortunately, that’s my issue is that this leg will never be what it once was so we have to adapt to it and my team’s been incredible.”