2 years after crash, Woods to play in PGA Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods Friday committed to playing in next week’s Genesis Invitational, the golf tournament he hosts at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

“I’m ready to play in an ACTUAL PGA Tour event next week @thegenesisinv,” Woods wrote on his Twitter page to announce the move.

Woods was hosting the tournament in 2021 when the SUV he was driving rolled over on a downhill slope of northbound Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes, leaving him with severe leg injuries that threatened his career.

But he made a comeback last year, appearing in three PGA majors, including the Masters. He was forced to withdraw from the PGA Championship after three rounds. His most recent appearance in an official event was at the Open Championship at St. Andrews in July of last year. He missed the cut in that tournament.

He played in some non-official events in December, during which he was aided by the use of golf carts.

The Genesis Invitational will be played from Feb. 16-19. According to the PGA, it will feature 23 of the top 25 ranked players in the world. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm are among those set to tee off at the event.

Woods was never cited in connection with the Feb. 23, 2021, rollover crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, although sheriff’s investigators ultimately determined that speed was the primary factor — with Woods estimated to have been driving between 84 and 87 mph when he struck a median. That’s nearly double the posted 45 mph speed limit.

After striking the median, the SUV careened across the southbound lanes, and was still moving at about 75 mph when it sheered off a tree on the side of Hawthorne Boulevard and flipped over before coming to rest on its side about 30 yards off the side of the road, then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva said at the time.

Villanueva said Woods showed no signs of impairment, and investigators never obtained warrants for Woods’ cell phone records or bloodwork to determine if he was distracted or impaired at the time.