Tiger Woods is facing scrutiny after he was caught handing fellow golfer Justin Thomas a tampon as an apparent prank at the Genesis Invitational on Thursday.
The two golfers were grouped with Rory McIlroy for the first round of the tournament, Woods’ first non-major PGA Tour event since he suffered serious injuries in a car crash in the days following the 2021 Genesis Invitational.
On the ninth hole, Woods hit his drive farther than Thomas did, and Woods then slipped Thomas a tampon as they walked up to their balls. Thomas discarded the tampon before the pair laughed it off.
Woods’ reasoning for handing Thomas a tampon was not made official, but the 15-time major winner has received backlash from people on social media saying there were sexist overtones.
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Woods was back on the course with Thomas and McIlroy for the second round on Friday. After shooting 2-under on Thursday, Woods went plus-3 on Friday, putting him in danger of missing the cut.
