Why was Woods in the Los Angeles area?
Woods, who lives in Florida, was in Southern California to host, but not to compete in, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades last weekend. Genesis Motor is a luxury vehicle division of Hyundai. Woods was in a 2021 Genesis GV80 S.U.V., which was provided to him during the tournament; he is known for always driving himself in a courtesy car at tournaments.
Woods stayed after the weekend to do a promotional photo shoot for Golf Digest, and when the crash happened, according to ESPN, he was on his way to a photo shoot with the N.F.L. quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert.
Where did Woods’s career stand before the crash?
Even before Tuesday’s wreck, it was not clear when Woods, 45, might play again or whether he would be able to pursue a record-tying sixth Masters victory this spring.
Woods was trying to recover from his fifth back operation, a microdiscectomy he underwent last month.
When he appeared on CBS on Sunday during the final round of the Genesis tournament, Woods was asked whether he would compete at the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in April. “God, I hope so,” he said. “I’ve got to get there first.”
Although Woods said last month that he expected to miss at least two tournaments, he did not publicly rule out playing in the Masters, which he last won in 2019. On Sunday, he said he was “feeling fine, a little bit stiff” and was awaiting another magnetic resonance imaging scan to evaluate his progress.
In the meantime, he said, he was “still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab, the little things before you can start gravitating toward something a little more.”
Woods tied for 38th place in the 2020 Masters, which was played in November because of the coronavirus pandemic. Although he shot a 10 on the 12th hole during the final round, he birdied five of the final six holes.
