Tiger Woods Apologizes After Backlash for Handing Justin Thomas a Tampon During Genesis Invitational

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Tiger Woods has issued an apology after he received backlash online for handing friend and fellow competitor Justin Thomas a tampon during the first round at the Genesis Open this week.

Woods, 47, outdrove Thomas, 29, in the ninth hole of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club, hitting 323 yards compared to Thomas' 313 yards. As the two walked up the fairway, Woods walked by him and slid a tampon in his hand, which Thomas hastily threw down before the duo started laughing.

The 15-time major champion addressed the incident — which some critics online described as "sexist" —  in a press conference after the second round of the Open on Friday, stating that what happened was nothing more than a "prank" between friends.

"Yeah, it was supposed to be all fun and games, and obviously it hasn't turned out that way," Woods said, per ESPN. "If I offended anybody, it was not the case, it was just friends having fun."

"As I said, if I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I'm sorry," Woods continued. "It was not intended to be that way. It was just — we play pranks on one another all the time and virally, I think, this did not come across that way, but between us it was — it's different."

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Some criticized the incident on Twitter after it was broadcasted on Thursday, including Alex McDaniel, managing editor of USA Today's For The Win.

"If tiger spent three months a year bleeding and coping with period pain, they'd make a whole-ass documentary about how champions overcome insurmountable obstacles," she tweeted.

When asked about the incident at a press conference, Sarina Wiegman, manager of the England women's national soccer team, said, "I think it's very inappropriate what he did."

"I think he realized that too," she continued, per Sky News. "... You're such a big role model and you can have a positive impact on society and I think you should be conscious of that."

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Some also argued, however, that the exchange was not offensive, including WXYZ 7 Action News Detroit Sports anchor Jeanna Trotman, who tweeted, "There is not a single bone in my body that is offended by Tiger Woods slipping Justin Thomas a tampon walking down the fairway."

Woods started out strong on the first round of the Open, ending the first round tied for 27th place with two-under-par 69.

However, the second round did not go as smoothly for the golf champion, as he just made the cut into the third round with one-over-par 143.

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"I did not putt well today, I blocked a lot of putts early and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today,'' Woods told reporters Friday, per Sports Illustrated.

"Probably should have shot five or six better than this easily," he added. "Just didn't make the putts early and the middle part of the round when I had those opportunities. And they weren't very hard putts, I just hit bad putts and obviously had a very bad finish, too."

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The event marks Woods' first tournament since The British Open Championship in July, where he missed the cut in the second round finishing just eight spots from the bottom of the leaderboard.

Woods has been recovering from serious leg injuries he sustained from a February 2021 car accident that left his pro golf career in doubt, and also had to withdraw from the Hero World Challenge on Nov. 28 due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot which he said was "making it difficult to walk."