Tiger Woods carted off Genesis Invitational, withdraws amid ambulance scare

Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational came to a close on the par-4 7th hole Friday.

After hitting his drive into the fairway, Woods hopped into a cart with a rules official, thus signaling a withdrawal from the competition. He was feeling ill, per his agent Rob McNamara.

“He started feeling some flu-like symptoms last night. Woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous,” McNamara explained.

“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 type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He’s been treated with an IV bag, and he’s doing much, much better. He’ll be released on his own here soon.”

Despite that, over his first six holes, Woods looked uncomfortable, hobbling along while struggling to sustain any momentum after his opening birdie. He made bogeys at the par-3 4th and par-4 5th. He then poured in a par putt at the beautiful par-3 6th, which marked his last hole of the day.

His departure from the second round comes one day after Woods hit an uncharacteristic shank on the par-4 18th, which he said stemmed from “back spasms.”

Yet, McNamara confirmed that his withdrawal was due to his flu-like symptoms.

“Not physical at all, his back is fine,” McNamara said. “It was all medical illness, dehydration, which, now the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he’s had an IV.”

Shortly after Woods left the course on the cart, an ambulance and two fire trucks showed up out front of the clubhouse. Fans were penned into the clubhouse in what was a wild, unexpected scene.

Dozens of media members, including Playing Through’s Senior Editor, gathered around, expecting to capture a sight of Tiger potentially leaving for the hospital.

However, the gurney rolled out without anyone on it.

Woods had not completed a 72-hole PGA Tour event since last year’s Genesis Invitational when he tied for 45th.

He needed to withdraw from the 2023 Masters, his last PGA Tour start.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.