WATCH: Tiger Woods hits shocking shank on 18 at Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods blames back spasm for shank on 18 as he returns a 1-over 72 on first round back to the PGA Tour.

15 Feb 2024

WATCH: Tiger Woods hits shocking shank on 18 at Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods carded a 1-over 72 on his first round back on the PGA Tour in 10 months at the Genesis Invitational, but he was left to rue a shocking shank on the 18th.

Woods, 48, endured a rollercoaster first round at famed Riviera with five birdies mixed in amongst five bogeys thru 17 holes.

But he closed the round out with his sixth bogey of the day when hitting a hosel rocket into the trees with his approach shot to 18.

To Woods' credit he hit a magnificent third shot from there into 25 feet but he could not convert the par putt.

It all added up to a round of 1-over 72 to leave Woods eight strokes off the early pace set by Patrick Cantlay, who fired an impressive 7-under 64.

Woods is currently outside the top 50 and in danger of missing the halfway cut.

Of his shank, Woods said:

"I had a back spasm on the last three holes, it locked up on me, it didn't rotate on me and I hit the hosel first."

WATCH TIGER WOODS HIT A SHANK ON THE 18TH HOLE

No one is immune to the dreaded shank.
Not even Tiger Woods. pic.twitter.com/6qJQY1W5yU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 15, 2024

HERE'S TIGER'S RECOVERY

An impressive shot from the trees.
Tiger Woods escapes with a bogey at the last. https://t.co/yu5C1v2RtL pic.twitter.com/YHERkzNXe2
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 15, 2024

Woods started brightly with a birdie on the easy par-5 1st but then followed that up with back-to-back bogeys on 2 and 3.

The former World No.1 then got back into the red with birdies on both of the next par-3 holes at 4 and 6.

Woods went out in 1-under par but then bogeyed the 10th to move back to level par.

He went back to 1-under with a birdie on the next but instantly gave it back with another sloppy bogey at 12 after finding trouble off the tee.

Woods bogeyed the 15th but recovered with a birdie at the par-5 17th, before concluding his round with another bogey on 18 aided by his shank.

Tiger Woods shoots a 72 (+1) in Round 1 at The Genesis Invitational pic.twitter.com/cvtC5ZtfYK
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) February 15, 2024

After the round Woods said:

"My round was good but a little bit indifferent, I struggled with the speed of the greens, they were a lot faster than I've seen Riviera before.

"I didn't feel like I hit a lot of greens. I was stressing out with the short game, it was either a birdie or bogey out there, it was a little bit indifferent."

VIEW LIVE SCORES HERE

Take me to more golf news!