Tiger Woods, 47, Apologizes For Controversial Tampon Scandal

Legendary golfer Tiger Woods openly apologized to his playing partner Justin Thomas after handing him a tampon during the Genesis Invitational on Thursday.

This week, the golfer was seen handing Thomas a tampon after outdriving him during the competition on the ninth hole. Thomas quickly got rid of the menstrual item, and the two laughed over the event. However, after being witnessed by many, Woods was criticized for “sexist overtones” by social media users all around the world.

England women’s soccer manager Sarina Wiegman discussed the incident over the weekend and even gave her thoughts to reporters on Saturday. “It is very inappropriate, and I think he has realized that,” she said.

In similar fashion, Alex McDaniel, managing editor of USA Today’s For The Win, took to Twitter and criticized Woods for not understanding what a woman goes through during her period. “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,” McDaniel wrote.

After Friday’s second round at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, the 47-year-old golfer held a press conference in which he addressed the incident. According to the man himself, he did not mean to offend anyone and is remorseful for his actions. “It was supposed to be all fun and games, and obviously, it hasn’t turned out that way,” he said.

Tiger Woods says the tampon incident was intended to be a playful prank.

“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, speaking to reporters. “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.”

RELATED: Paul Rudd and His 17-Year-Old Son Celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Championship

The Genesis Intention was one of the handful of competitions the historic golfer has competed in since he was injured in a car crash. Roughly two years ago, Woods suffered an intense leg injury and has spent the last few years in physical therapy.

“That’s something that we’ve had to work on; walking [long] distances on the beach to basically stress it out but also to be able to recover by the next day and see how it is, inflammation-wise and then keep practicing. I may have overdone it a couple of times here or there, but here I am,” he said at the Riviera Country Club.