The champion golfer withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Feb. 16. Tiger Woods who was hosting the event at the Riviera Country Club, left on a golf cart during the second round of the tournament.
PGA official Mark Dusbabek later shared on the Golf Channel that early reports attributed his departure to an illness, per NBC News.
Tiger Woods, 48, started experiencing “flu-like symptoms” and dehydration after the Feb. 15 round of the tournament, according to a statement from his manager Rob McNamara shared by Barstool Sports’ Dan Rapaport.
“He had a bit of a fever and that was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy,” McNamara said in the statement. “He’s being treated with an IV bag and he’s doing much, much better and he’ll be released on his own here soon.”
The manger reiterated the ailment was not a physical injury, noting, “His back’s fine.”
On Feb. 14, Woods was pictured on the course during a preview event alongside Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Woods appeared to be in good spirits as he was smiling on the green.
After the eighth hole, the athlete even stopped by an In-N-Out booth to grab a double-double cheeseburger.
Though Woods took a break from the sport in 2021 to recover from leg and ankle surgery following a Los Angeles car crash, he’s since returned to the competition. He last appeared on the golf course in December 2023 for the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
“To be able to share it with my family,” he told PNC after the game, “to have both my kids out there the last two days, has been so special.”
Woods—who also shares daughter Sam, 16, with ex-wife Elin Nordegren—added, “Just grateful for us to be able to have these types of experiences, for Charlie and I to have done this for four years in a row now since the start of COVID, to be able to come out here, and for all of us as families to come out and enjoy the week, it’s special.”