17 February 2024 , 00:21
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Tiger Woods' long-time associate Rob McNamara, has provided a positive update on the golf legend after he was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitationa l.
Woods was playing in his first PGA Tour event in almost a year as he made a competitive return after being forced to withdraw from The Masters due to injury last year. He was again unable to complete the full tournament, initially sparking fears of a recurrence of his injury problems.
It soon emerged illness, rather than injury, was to blame. But concerns were heightened when an ambulance arrived at Riviera Country Club shortly after the 15-time major winner was taken off the golf course and into the clubhouse via cart.
McNamara, who is also vice president of TGR Ventures, has since revealed that Woods started to feel ill on Thursday night and symptoms worsened as he became dizzy during his round. After being treated with an IV, he was soon feeling much better.
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McNamara said: "So he started feeling some flu-like symptoms last night. Woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous.
"He had a little bit of a fever and that, and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy. Ultimately the doctors are saying he's got some - potentially some type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He's been treated with an IV bag and he's doing much, much better and he'll be released on his own here soon."
Asked to confirm there was no physical injury involved, he said: "Correct, correct. Not physical at all, his back's fine. It was all medical illness, dehydration, which is now the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he's had an IV."
Woods was driven off the course via cart after playing just six holes (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)Woods sparked concern when his opening round ended with an uncharacteristic shank on the 18th hole, which he later attributed to back spasms.
"Oh, definitely, I shanked it," Woods said. "Well, my back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up. I came down and it didn't move, and I presented [the] hosel first and shanked it."
Woods posted a one-over par opening round. He was one-over again through six holes, two-over for the tournament, when he decided enough was enough and withdrew from the tournament.
"It was one or the other," Woods said after his opening round. "I don't know how many pars I had, wasn't many. I was either making birdies or bogeys and just never really got anything consistent going today.
"I struggled with the speed of the greens. I couldn't believe how fast they were today even though I made a couple. I ran a bunch by the hole today, it was very stressful. But the golf course is in such perfect shape. Considering the amount of rain they've gotten, to get the golf course this fast is pretty impressive."