Tiger Woods handed Justin Thomas a tampon after getting past him on the ninth hole.
Credit: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
(CNN) --
Fifteen-time golf champion Tiger Woods has apologized for handing fellow golfer Justin Thomas a tampon during the first round of the Genesis Invitational on Thursday.
After the second round on Friday at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, Woods said he did not mean to offend anyone.
"It was all supposed to be fun and games and obviously it hasn't turned out that way," Woods told reporters.
“If I offended someone, which I didn't, it was just friends having fun.
Like I said, if I offended anyone in any way, I'm sorry.
I didn't have that intention.
We just joke around all the time and when it went viral, I think it was seen differently, but between us it was different."
Tiger Woods criticized for giving Justin Thomas a tampon at the Genesis Invitational
“If Tiger spent three months out of the year bleeding and dealing with period pain, she would make an entire documentary on how champions overcome impossible obstacles,” Alex McDaniel, managing editor of USA Today's For The Win, tweeted Friday morning.
This Friday, Woods had been critical of how he was playing, saying that "it was the highest score I could have achieved today."
This Saturday, however, he managed to make the cut, going one over par in the first two rounds.
Woods and Thomas had a laugh as they walked the ninth hole during the first round of The Genesis Invitational.
After sustaining serious leg injuries in a car accident two years ago, Woods has made sporadic competitive appearances as he struggles through a grueling recovery process.
Playing in the Genesis Invitational this week marks his first official tournament return since The Open Championship last July and his first non-major PGA Tour event since the ZOZO Championship in October 2020.
The Genesis Invitational will run through Sunday.
With information from Wayne Sterling.
Tampon Tiger Woods