Tiger Woods not ready to be dubbed a ceremonial golfer: 'I'm playing to win'

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Tiger Woods will make another return to competitive golf this week at The Genesis Invitational — it'll be his first tournament since The Open Championship at St. Andrews last July.

Woods hasn't won a tournament since 2019 at the ZOZO Championship in Japan, having been stuck on 82 wins, which is tied for Sam Snead for the most all-time.

Of course, he wants one more victory to be alone at the top, but after myriad surgeries and injuries, plenty of which were extremely major, the 47-year-old is clearly on the back nine of his career.

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Tiger Woods of the United States plays his shot from the tenth tee during the final round of the PNC Championship at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 18, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

He admitted as such on Tuesday at Riviera, and one day, he's going to be playing simply as just an ambassador for the game.

Woods and his son, Charlie, played at the PNC Championship in December, a tournament where pros play with a family member. That's one of the rare tournament where the 15-time major champion, often almost too locked in, can sit back and enjoy the moment.

But that's not the case this week.

"I have not come around to the idea of being [a ceremonial golfer]. If I’m playing, I’m playing to win," Woods told the media on Tuesday. "I know that players have played, and they are ambassadors of the game and try to grow the game. I can’t wrap my mind around that as a competitor. If I’m playing in the event, I’m going to try and beat you. I’m there to get a W. 

Tiger Woods preparing for the Open Championship in 2022. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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"Making a cut’s a great thing. If I enter the event, it’s always to get a W. There will come a point in time where my body will not allow me to do that anymore, and that’s probably sooner rather than later. But wrapping my head around that transition and being an ambassador role and just playing and just trying to be out here with the guys? No, that’s just not in my DNA."

Woods announced he was playing at The Genesis Invitational last week, and he's not playing in the tournament simply as a warmup or trying to make the cut.

"I’m excited to go out there and compete and play with these guys. I would not have put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys and win the event. That’s my mentality," he said.

Tiger Woods of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the final round of the PNC Championship at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 18, 2022 in Orlando, Florida.  (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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Woods is currently in the second-longest tournament drought of his career - he previously had not won from 2013 to 2018, but won the TOUR Championship to get back on top, then won the 2019 Masters seven months later.