Tiger Woods apologises for offending "anybody in any way, shape or form". Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Tiger Woods says he is sorry if he "offended anybody in any way" after he discreetly handed Justin Thomas a tampon after outdriving his playing partner at the Genesis Invitational.
It occurred as the Americans walked off the ninth tee, with Thomas laughing and then dropping the tampon on the floor.
"It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn't turned out that way," said Woods.
"If I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I'm sorry," he added.
"It was not intended to be that way. 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."
Woods is playing in his first competitive PGA Tour event since missing the cut at The Open in July.
The 15-time major champion was in a group with PGA Championship winner Thomas and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.
The incident drew criticism on social media, with many stating it was disrespectful toward women.
Writing in USA Today, columnist Christine Brennan, said: "Woods' message to Thomas was obvious. It has been the go-to line of silly, often insecure boys for generations: You play like a girl.
"What a bizarre thing for a "girl dad" to do. His daughter Sam, now 15, grew up playing soccer and had just played in a tournament in Florida when she arrived to watch him win the Masters in 2019.
"... He employed basic misogyny to insult his good friend Thomas, a knee-slapper of a dig against female athletes: You hit the ball like a girl!"
Sky Sports presenter Sarah Stirk said it was "crass" and "extremely disappointing".
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Stirk added: "It was seemingly done in jest. To me it was laddy, blokey behaviour, passing him the tampon effectively saying: 'I've outdriven you, you're driving the ball like a woman'.
"[That is] effectively the inference of the incident that happened and that to me says females, women, are inferior to men.
"Women should not be portrayed as being inferior to men in any walk of life and certainly on a sporting landscape."
Golf podcast host Brian Kirschner said: "Truly cannot get over the idea of Tiger Woods preparing for his first non-major start since 2020 at a tournament he's hosting and being like "oops almost forgot to pack a tampon to hand to JT when I hit it past him".
BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter said Woods' comeback to tournament golf was supposed to be the feelgood story of a great champion who is once again defying the odds and putting golf into a positive spotlight.
"But this incident puts that narrative in serious jeopardy because many will interpret it as a premeditated and embarrassingly sexist act from a 47-year-old-man who should know better.
"Especially given the apologies he has previously needed to make for episodes in his private life.
Coming from the sport's most prominent figure, the incident could damage his reputation as well as that of a game which has often struggled to shake off accusations of institutional misogyny."
Some will view it as mere locker room banter, and Woods surely saw it as a private joke, Carter said.
"But others will refuse to accept such an excuse. They will also point to the incident occurring during play with TV cameras inevitably trained on Woods' every move."
Woods grinded his way to a 3-over 74 in the second round at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles.
He walked off the course 1 over for the tournament, T-68 and one shot outside of the then-projected cut.
-BBC