Golf: Tiger Woods says sorry after on-course tampon joke prompts backlash

LOS ANGELES – Tiger Woods on Friday apologised after being criticised for handing a tampon to fellow-American Justin Thomas as a joke during the first round of the Genesis Invitational.

The 15-time Major winner’s comeback journey encountered controversy as images circulated on social media of him handing the period product to the two-time PGA Championship winner after outdriving him on the ninth hole on Thursday.

Thomas, who was in Woods’ grouping along with world No. 2 Rory McIlroy at Pacific Palisades, California, quickly threw the tampon to the ground.

Responding to criticism from commentators and on social media, Woods said it was “just friends having fun”.

“It was supposed to be all fun and games but, obviously, it hasn’t turned out that way,” he told reporters on Friday.

“If I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I’m sorry... It was not intended to be that way. We play pranks on one another all the time.”

The images of Woods passing the tampon to Thomas prompted a backlash, with critics calling it sexist.

In her column for USA Today, Christine Brennan said: “Woods’ message to Thomas was obvious. It has been the go-to line of silly, often insecure boys for generations: ‘You play like a girl’.”

BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter called it an “embarrassingly sexist act from a 47-year-old-man who should know better”.

Amid the flap, Woods posted a

three-over 74 in the second round on Friday that left him 11 strokes adrift of the leaders on 143 but allowed him to survive the weekend cut.

Max Homa’s 68 gave him a 10-under total of 132 and a one-shot lead over third-ranked Spaniard Jon Rahm (68) and Americans Lee Hodges (66) and Keith Mitchell (69).

Fourteen players had yet to finish the round when play was suspended due to darkness. 

It was a disappointing day for Woods, who is

teeing it up in a PGA Tour event

for the first time since the British Open in July as he continues to wrestle with the serious leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car accident.

He dropped shots at the eighth and ninth holes to finish with five bogeys, but said his troubles on the green began much earlier.

“I did not putt well today,” said Woods.

“I blocked a lot of putts early and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today.

“(I) probably should have shot five or six better than this, easily.

“I could have easily got off to a very hot start and I did not, and then middle part of the round I could have turned it around a little bit and I did not.”

Woods, who reiterated this week that he is hoping to play all four Majors and a few other tournaments in 2023 as his leg issues continue to limit him, said his injury history means he makes constant adjustments to his mechanics.

“I’ve had so many surgeries that the ankle just keeps changing, the leg keeps changing,” he said.

“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.”

Homa, who shared the overnight lead with Mitchell, shook off two front-nine bogeys, notching birdies at the ninth, 10th and 11th to power back to the top of the leaderboard.

Four of his six PGA Tour victories have come in his home state of California, including January’s Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

“I’m not really sure why I play so well in California. Obviously, there’s some comfortability with the grass and how far the ball goes. I don’t know,” he said.

“This golf course in particular does suit me really well. It suits a lot of the shots I like to hit. That’s my best estimation.” REUTERS, AFP