Tiger Woods (USA), the emperor of golf, still showed a strong desire to compete. At a press conference two days before the opening of the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational held at the Riviera CC (par 71) in Pacific Palisades, near Los Angeles, California on the 17th, Woods said, “I thought I could win by beating other players. Without it, I would not have participated. That’s my mindset,” he said.
Woods, who is still ill from the aftermath of a car accident two years ago right after this tournament, only participated in three major tournaments (Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, and The Open Championship) last year. His first appearance this year was expected to be the Masters (April), but he jumped into the Genesis Invitational hosted by his own foundation.
Woods, who has 82 wins (15 majors) on the PGA Tour and has one win left in the record for most wins, said, “The reason I go to the tournament is to win. I competed with the goal of winning, but I can’t understand why people say that passing the cut is amazing,” he said. Woods, who is predicted to have a 1/150 chance of winning this tournament, will be with his close juniors Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Justin Thomas (USA) during the first and second rounds. 안전놀이터
Scotty Scheffler, who has returned to world No. 1, is aiming to win a special tournament for two weeks in a row by playing alongside Jordan Spieth and Colin Morikawa (above USA). Like McIlroy, John Rahm (3rd, Spain), who is aiming to recapture world No. 1, will join Patrick Cantley (5th, USA) and Victor Hovlan (11th, Norway). The three-way match of the ‘Big 3’ is an issue that will heat up every tournament for the time being.
Korean players also challenge to win this competition sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company. Kim Joo-hyung (21), ranked 15th in the world, will face off against Max Homa (12th) and Zander Chopley (6th, USA), who the PGA Tour website ranked first in this week’s power rankings. Homa, along with Ram, is a strong player who won two wins early in the season.
Lim Seong-jae (25), who has been maintaining his steady skills by ranking in the top 10 of two consecutive competitions recently, joins Jason Day (Australia), the world’s No. 2023 Sony Open champion Kim Si-woo (28) will play with 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick (England), and Lee Kyung-hoon (32) will play with last year’s rookies Cameron Young and Sam Burns (above USA).