Tiger Woods delays PGA Tour season debut at Genesis Invitational after death of his mother

New York Times

10-02-2025

Tiger Woods was set to make his PGA Tour season debut this week at the Genesis Invitational, but decided he's not ready to return yet after the death of his mother, Kultida, last week.
'I planned to tee it up this week, but I'm just not ready,' Woods wrote on social media Monday. 'I did my best to prepare, knowing it's what my Mom would have wanted, but I'm still processing her loss.
'Thanks to everyone who has reached out. I hope to be at Torrey later in the week and appreciate the continued kindness since my Mom's passing.'
I planned to tee it up this week, but I'm just not ready. I did my best to prepare, knowing it's what my Mom would have wanted, but I'm still processing her loss.
Thanks to everyone who has reached out. I hope to be at Torrey later in the week and appreciate the continued… pic.twitter.com/HP45Tla3QQ
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) February 10, 2025
The Genesis Invitational is a premier signature event on the tour calendar and is run by the Tiger Woods Foundation where he serves as host. The tournament, normally played at Riviera Country Club, was moved to Torrey Pines outside San Diego due to the fires in the Palisades near Riviera. Woods announced Friday he planned to play in the Genesis for his first tournament since July 2024, but the emotions following Kultida's death led to a change of heart.
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Woods, 49, had his sixth back surgery in an 11-year span last fall, adding to the list of ailments troubling the 15-time major champion. But he has been healthy enough to play in his new indoor simulator league, TGL, with his Jupiter Links team.
Kultida, who was 80, was seen as recently as two weeks ago at a TGL match supporting her son. While Tiger's father Earl was seen the most publicly and presented to the world as his greatest influence and mentor as he rose from junior golfer to 15-time major champion, Kultida was just as pivotal a force in his life.
'My Mom was a force of nature all her own, her spirit was simply undeniable,' Tiger Woods said in a Feb. 4 post on X. 'She was quick with the needle and a laugh. She was my biggest fan, greatest supporter, without her none of my personal achievements would have been possible. She was loved by so many, but especially by her two grandchildren, Sam and Charlie.'
It is with heartfelt sadness that I want to share that my dear mother, Kultida Woods, passed away early this morning. My Mom was a force of nature all her own, her spirit was simply undeniable. She was quick with the needle and a laugh. She was my biggest fan, greatest supporter,… pic.twitter.com/RoKd0fsM9J
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) February 4, 2025
Kultida was born in Thailand and met Earl during the Vietnam War, when he was deployed to Thailand as a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier. They married and moved to Cypress, Calif., and in 1975 she gave birth to their only son, Eldrick Tiger Woods.
'While other kids were stuck inside on bad-weather days in a state of boredom, I was being entertained by golf. I turned our living room into a chipping area. I would hit flop shots off the carpet over the coffee table and land the ball short of the fireplace,' Tiger wrote in his 2001 book, 'How I Play Golf.'
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'I never broke anything although I came close a few times. People are always asking me about the pressure of tournament golf. I'll let you in on a little secret. I had to hit those floppers so they made little or no noise because if Mom had heard me hitting balls in her living room, she would have blistered my behind. The pressure of tournament golf pales in comparison.'
When Earl stopped attending tournaments in the mid-2000s as his health deteriorated, Kultida never wavered, walking all 18 holes with her son every time he competed.
Kultida, according to many close to Woods, was an unflinchingly attentive mother but also the one who instilled Woods' extreme competitiveness. Woods once recalled to reporters, 'She was very strict. She said if I ever crossed the boundaries that she set, there was always consequences.'
Said Kultida to Sports Illustrated: 'I said, 'Go after them, kill them. When you're finished, now it's sportsmanship. Before that, go for that throat. Don't let your opponent up.''
She is credited with him wearing red on Sundays — when Tiger debuted his Sun Day Red apparel company last year, he told NBC's Carson Daly and Jimmy Fallon that his mother believed he should wear red because he is a Capricorn. Golf.com further connected the dots, as Kultida was a practicing Buddhist, and in that religion, red is seen as a power color — it's seen the same way in Thailand when it's worn on Sunday. He won 82 PGA Tour events wearing red on Sundays.