Tiger Woods refused to clear the air on the future of the Genesis Invitational. But his rather vague update gave away more than what a lengthy response could’ve. He doesn’t want to talk about it right now. As the plumes of fire raged threateningly close to Riviera Country Club at Pacific Palisades, the attention turned to the future of Genesis Invitational. Tiger Woods understands that. But as a Californian, his ties with LA go beyond just the $20M purse signature event. 

“To see what has happened, I’ve known a couple [of] people that have lost everything, so it’s just hard,” Woods said after his TGL debut. His team, Jupiter Links GC, was thrashed 12-1 by Los Angeles Golf Club. Speaking after the tournament to media persons, Woods was pressed with questions about the tournament. But from his responses, it was clear that the 15-time major winner doesn’t want golf to take center stage. 

“As far as the Genesis, we’re trying to just 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,” said Tiger Woods. Pressed on the matter a second time, the 49-year-old reiterated his position. 

“As I said earlier, we’re not really focused on the tournament as of right now. There’s so many other things that are bigger than that,” emphasized Woods in the presser. “We have subsequent meetings to try and figure all that out.” It’s actually very much understandable that the former world no.1 doesn’t want to talk about a tournament he hosts. 

Tiger Woods grew up in Cypress, some 45 miles from Pacific Palisades where the Riviera Country Club is located. Woods actually made his PGA Tour debut at the 1992 Los Angeles Open. Riviera was spared but not the neighborhood. 

Notably, the PGA Tour also sent a memo to its players explaining that at this moment it would be ‘premature’ to discuss the future of the Signature event at Riviera Country Club.  Whereas, Woods’s response was quite in line with his first statement on social media. “The devastation that is ongoing with the LA fires is such a tragedy and being from California, it hits home. My heart is with those who have suffered unimaginable loss. Thank you to the incredible heroes that are the first responders helping to contain and save the community of Los Angeles.”

Actually, Tiger Woods wasn’t the only Californian to tee off at SoFi Center tonight. Standing by him, his teammate, Max Homa has deep ties with the community. As did Collin Morikawa from LAGC. All three echoed similar thoughts on the tournament.

Tiger Woods’s thought echoes in Max Homa & Co.

Like most of us, Max Homa’s eyes have been glued to the TV.  The six-time PGA Tour winner has stomped the places that are now lying buried under a heap of ashes. So, every time they mentioned a place, the Californian could picture how it looked before. 

Max Homa, a former winner of the Genesis Invitational, said, “I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the golf tournament. No offense to Tiger and TGL 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.” Homa was born in Burbank, some 30 miles from Pacific Palisades, and studied at UC Berkeley. Fellow alum, and former Golden Bear, Collin Morikawa, echoed similar thoughts.

The former Open champion sported a black tee with ‘LA Strong’ etched on it while entering the SoFi Center. Asked about it at the post-round media interaction, Morikawa expressed, “The winds are picking up, fire is still going, people are still out there fighting the fires, protecting their houses, helping their neighbors, helping communities. That’s why LA is to me such a great city, because you never want something to happen like that, but you see all the people come together, you see all the people helping each other out, having their backs.”

Notably, Genesis Invitational released ‘LA Strong’ shirts with the tournament’s logo etched on the front recently. They are being sold for $35. The tournament organizer said all the profits from it will go toward the American Red Cross and the L.A. Fire Department Foundation. 

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the NFL’s playoff match between the LA Rams and Minnesota Vikings has been moved out of SoFi Stadium in California to State Farm Stadium in Arizona. What happens to the Genesis Invitational is still under speculation.