PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — As a Southern California native, Tiger Woods is understandably concerned about what is occurring in the Los Angeles area that continues to deal with wildfires and widespread destruction.
As the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational scheduled for next month in Pacific Palisades, the 15-time major champion deflected a question about the event’s status, saying “there are so many other things that are bigger than that.”
Woods grew up near Anaheim and was joined Tuesday night at the SoFi Center by three others with Southern California ties during the TGL’s second match between his Jupiter Links team and the Los Angeles Golf Club.
Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala also grew up in the area.
“It’s just sad,” Woods said. “Max and I have grown up there. We’re So Cal kids. To see what has happened, I’ve known a couple of people who lost everything, so it’s just hard.
“As far as the Genesis, we’re just trying to figure everything out and make sure that everyone is safe and we have meetings scheduled going forward. But as of right now, we’re not really focused on the tournament. It’s more about what we can do to help everyone who’s struggling, who’s lost homes and had their lives changed.”
Riviera Country Club, site of the tournament scheduled for Feb. 13-16, is where Woods made his PGA Tour debut in 1992 as an amateur. The iconic venue will also host the 2026 U.S. Open and the 2028 Olympic golf tournament as well as the 2031 U.S. Open.
The course so far has not suffered any damage but it is on the periphery of considerable damage. Although Woods did not confirm it, tournament officials and the PGA Tour are clearly looking into the possibility of staging the event elsewhere.
“It’s devastating,” said Homa, who won the 2021 Genesis Invitational. I know that these natural disasters happen far too often. This is the first one I can remember where every news, every time someone mentioned an area, I could picture it so well. It was very eerie.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the golf tournament. No offense to Tiger and TGR (Tiger’s foundation) and Genesis, but it seems silly at the moment to be overly focused on a golf tournament when people are still continuing to have this go on and living in a bit of fear in So Cal. It’s been really tough, but again, I’m just very happy that a lot of people have gotten out, been safe.”
Theegala said he is returning to the area on Wednesday after spending the last two weeks in Hawaii playing the PGA Tour.
He said his caddie, Carl Smith, has a sister who lost her home.
“I was in Honolulu last week and to be honest, I was pretty distracted all week waiting on updates,” he said. “A lot of my friends and family evacuated. And I hope Carl doesn’t mind me sharing this, but his sister’s house burned down and he stuck it through on my bag last week, and he was here this week. I know his family is having a hard time.
“It’s just crazy to have it hit so close to home. It just feels like it’s happened too much in recent times.”
The PGA Tour last week issued a statement about the Genesis Invitational saying it was monitoring the situation.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tiger Woods Deflects Genesis Invitational Questions As L.A. Wildfires Continue.