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After coming under fire for a chauvinistic joke on Justin Thomas on Friday, Tiger Woods may have redeemed himself with fans Saturday at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles by giving a young viewer the thrill of his life. Woods, who was 4-under on Saturday to move to 3-under for the tournament, spotted a young fan on the 17th hole with a peculiar sign.
‘My wish list,’ the sign said.
‘Get a heart transplant,’ the next line read, along with a large check mark.
“Meet Tiger Woods,” read the second line next to an empty box.
Woods approached the young fan, later identified as heart transplant recipient Madelyn Quinn, personally marked the second line of her sign and gave her an autographed glove.
After coming under fire for a chauvinistic joke on Justin Thomas on Friday, Tiger Woods may have redeemed himself with fans Saturday at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles by giving a young viewer the thrill of his life. Woods, who was 4-under on Saturday to move to 3-under for the tournament, spotted a young fan on the 17th hole with a peculiar sign.
Quinn also received an awkward high-five from Woods, who was walking toward the 18th hole at the time.
He had a third line on his sign that read ‘play Augusta’, but that will have to wait another day.
As reported by Golf Digest, Quinn was born with a heart defect, which caused her to undergo three open-heart surgeries starting at the age of two.
Quinn dreams of becoming a professional golfer.
Her father, Greg, is a former PGA pro teacher, who has now taken her to see Woods twice.
“Thank you @TigerWoods – it’s things like this that don’t get enough attention and media,” Greg tweeted. You the man!!!’
Greg described his recovery from a heart transplant to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2021.
“It was the most miraculous transformation we’ve ever seen,” said Greg. ‘Her cheeks were pink, she was warm to the touch for the first time. You don’t realize until you experience it every day what heart failure can do. He’s been going a million miles an hour ever since.
Woods had some explaining to do Friday, about a putter so cold it almost missed the cut at Riviera, and about a chauvinistic joke he pulled on Justin Thomas at the Genesis Invitational.
Woods approached the young fan, later identified as heart transplant recipient Madelyn Quinn, personally marked the second line of her sign and gave her an autographed glove.
His father, Greg, says he is ranked 41st in the world in his age division.
Returning to elite competition for the first time in seven months, Woods caused quite a stir in the first round for all the wrong reasons.
It started when he started a 323-yard drive, about 10 yards more than the 29-year-old Thomas. Coming off the tee, Woods discreetly put something in Thomas’s hand, which Thomas tossed to the ground when he realized what it was: a tampon, to remind him that Woods hit farther. Woods laughed and put his arm around Thomas.
Social media sprang to life when the moment was posted. On Friday, a fan yelled: ‘Tampon!’ at Woods after he made a rare putt.
Woods apologized after his bogey-bogey finish for a 74 in the second round, which left him over the projected cutoff line. At the end of the day, he’s moved up enough places to be sure he’ll be there for the weekend. He was 11 shots behind Max Homa.
“It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it didn’t turn out that way,” Woods said. ‘If I offended anyone in any way, shape or form, I’m sorry. It wasn’t meant to be that way. It was just that we were joking with each other all the time and virally, I think it wasn’t seen that way.
He appeared to put that behind him on Saturday, firing his best round since 2020.
Woods plays a shot on the 17th hole during the third round of The Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club. Minutes later, Woods would meet Madelyn Quinn
Woods trails leader Jon Rahm by 12 shots after shooting a 67 on Saturday.
“Today was better,” Woods said. ‘I felt like I made some good adjustments with my putting and that’s what stopped me yesterday. I’ve driven it well the last three days, my iron play has been good. And firm conditions that I like, that’s my thing with the iron game. I wish I could have putt a little better yesterday.’
What stood out was the day. It was his best result on a Saturday in an official event since the fall of 2019.
It’s a small sample size to be sure – 12 tournaments since he won the Zozo Championship in Japan in 2019 – but his legs are a bigger problem than how he hits the club.
Woods shattered bones in his right leg and ankle in a car accident in Los Angeles two years ago. He returned 14 months later to play in the Masters and made the cut, a remarkable feat. And then over the weekend, he limped down to a par 78.
A month later at Southern Hills for the PGA Championship, he again made the cut with a stunning game down the stretch on Friday. But the wind changed, a cold front came into Tulsa, Oklahoma, shot 79 and withdrew.
Woods made the cut in number at Riviera and started in the back nine. He opened with a 15-foot birdie putt, missed a good shot on the par-5 11th hole and then raised the putter left-handed as his birdie putt 25 feet from the rim of the par-3 14th hole fell for another birdie.
Tiger Woods steps up to the 9th hole after teeing off during round 3 of the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
The biggest moment came on the par-5 opening hole after he made the turn. Caught between clubs and feeling a bit of wind in his face, he hit a slice with a 5-iron that landed towards the front of the green and rolled inches down the glass before settling 3 feet away for what amounted to an eagle touch. .
He finally dropped a shot in the seventh as his approach rolled down the steep ledge, leaving a difficult pitch. But he finished better than Friday, when he bogeyed three of his last four holes.
“I thought I could have a race where I could catch up and touch the leaders,” Woods said before admitting he was too far behind.
Rahm is playing on another level right now, a level Woods is familiar with. The Spaniard hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since August, and is going for his fifth win in his last nine races.
Woods said he was sore after walking for the fourth day in a row, starting with the pro-am on Wednesday when he stopped playing after 16 holes, and talks about recovery after a round and preparation beforehand.
That part is not fun. Saturday was And while the chill in the morning air hasn’t been great, the fast-paced conditions at Riviera live up to their expectations.
“I’ve been pretty one dimensional about how I hit my tee shots,” he said. “I’ve gone to my standard little shot because I just haven’t played enough where I feel like I can hit different shots.” … The way the golf course is played, as fast as it is, a flat cut can go a long way here, so I’ve been able to hit that shot. Then, with the greens firm, I really enjoy it for my iron game and finally made some putts.’
Sunday will be his first 72-hole event since the Masters, and only his second since his car accident that happened not far from Riviera. Woods is already eyeing his return to Augusta National, but wants to wait until after this week to see if he adds any tournaments before then.
Tiger Woods is interviewed after finishing his round during the third round of The Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club on Sunday.