LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods apologized Friday and said he didn’t mean to offend anyone by what he called a prank during the first round of the Genesis Invitational on Thursday.
After Woods’ tee shot went 20 yards past Justin Thomas‘ ball on the ninth hole at the Riviera Country Club, Woods covertly passed a tampon to Thomas’ right hand as they walked down the fairway. Thomas immediately dropped it to the ground, and Woods put his arm around Thomas’ shoulder as they laughed.
“Yeah, it was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn’t turned out that way,” Woods said. “If I offended anybody, it was not the case, it was just friends having fun.”
Woods said he and Thomas, his close friend, play practical jokes on each other during rounds. Woods was criticized by some for Thursday’s action, which some critics described as sexist.
“As I said, if I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I’m sorry,” Woods said. “It was not intended to be that way. It was just we play pranks on one another all the time and virally I think this did not come across that way, but between us it was — it’s different.”
Woods, 47, was playing in his first PGA Tour official event in nearly seven months. He carded a 3-over 74 in the second round. With a 36-hole total of 1 over, Woods was in danger of missing the cut in a tournament he hosts and has never won.