PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Decked out in his new Sun Day Red garb, Tiger Woods on Tuesday began preparations for his 2024 season debut with a speedy practice round at Riviera.
A typically busy week for Woods, the player/host at this week’s Genesis Invitational, is even more so with the unveiling of his new apparel line following the end of his 27-year partnership with Nike. Woods had a glitzy media event Monday to showcase the brand, and he showed up here Tuesday not with that familiar Nike swoosh but rather a black sweater, light pants and black shoes that showed off the new tiger stripes logo and “SDR” scripting.
It’s not his only change inside the ropes.
On Woods’ bag this week is veteran caddie Lance Bennett, who got the call-up for this $20 million signature event that will feature just 70 players (but also a halfway cut for the top 50 and ties, plus any player within 10 shots of the lead). Bennett has been a Tour fixture more than a decade, most notably with Matt Kuchar. It remains to be seen whether Bennett is a one-week fill-in or if Woods will use him for the rest of his 2024 schedule.
With that intrigue out of the way, attention will soon return to how Woods looks and sounds.
Woods played alone on the back nine, hitting a handful of shots on each hole and finishing his work before 11 a.m. local time in front of a few dozen media members, volunteers and equipment representatives. At the end of the year Woods said a reasonable goal was for him to play once a month, beginning this week in L.A., where he made his Tour debut in 1992 but has yet to win in 15 tries. The Genesis was his only regular-season Tour start last year; he made the cut at the Masters two months later and then underwent surgery to fuse his ankle. He finished 18th out of 20 players at his Hero World Challenge exhibition last December.
Woods will play the opening round this week at 9:25 a.m. PST, with his second round slated for 11:54 a.m.
Even without much tournament competition, Woods, 48, has been plenty busy. As a member of the Tour policy board he was instrumental in helping land a deal with the Strategic Sports Group that will infuse up to $3 billion in the Tour’s new for-profit entity. Woods will meet with the media after his 18-hole pro-am round Wednesday, when he is expected to be asked about the Tour’s prospects for a formal agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, as well as the thorny issue of a potential pathway back to the Tour for LIV defectors.
