Tiger Woods finds himself at the centre of controversy and confusion after appearing to hand playing partner Justin Thomas a tampon during his competitive return to golf at the Genesis Invitational.

Woods was playing alongside Thomas and Rory McIlroy in his first appearance in seven months and appeared to play a prank on his fellow American after outdriving him on the ninth hole.

As Woods and Thomas walked side by side, the 47-year-old forced something into his playing partner’s hand.

Thomas took a moment to see what the item was before throwing it to the ground, with both players then bursting out laughing as they continued to walk along the fairway.

But footage then picked up that the item in question was a tampon, in what seemed to be a suggestion from Woods towards Thomas that he was playing like a woman.

Thomas, a two-time major winner, did not seem to take offence to the joke as both players remained in good spirits alongside McIlroy during the opening round.

Woods was not asked about the incident immediately afterwards.

The 15-time major winner made his first appearance since The Open in July and made three birdies on his final three holes to card an opening round of 69.

“I was able to fight back and get it going,” Woods said after play. “It was a nice finish.”

The 47-year-old’s legs held up on a day where he mixed five birdies with three bogeys.

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