For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we inch closer to Tiger’s return.

1. Here to win

Ben Everill for PGATour.com…“Woods, who returns for his first official TOUR event since The Open Championship last July, is adamant he’s not here to make up numbers, or to play a ceremonial golfer role for the event he hosts.”

• “If I’m playing, I play to win” Tiger Woods before Genesis

• “I’m excited to go out there and compete and play with these guys. And 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,” Woods said Tuesday from Riviera.

• “If I’m playing, I play to win. 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 don’t understand that making the cut’s a great thing. If I entered the event, it’s always to get a W.”

2. Woods, McIlroy, Thomas grouped together

PGATour.com staff…”Tiger Woods will tee off with two familiar faces in his return to the PGA TOUR.”

• “The 82-time TOUR winner will play alongside Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy in the first two rounds of The Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. They will tee off at 3:04 p.m. ET Thursday and 10:24 a.m. ET in Friday’s second round.”

3. Former “sportwashing” critic reverses course

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”Three years ago, Meghan MacLaren took a rare and bold stance against playing in the first women’s professional golf event ever held in Saudi Arabia, saying that competing in the Kingdom didn’t fit with her values. The 28-year-old Englishwoman withdrew over concerns that the country was “sportswashing” its human rights record.”

• “As the presence of Saudi Arabia money continues to grow in women’s golf, however, MacLaren’s stance has evolved.”

• …[said MacLaren]: “At some point, you have to reconcile,” said MacLaren. “This is my competitive nature and my profession versus how do I want to live my life? What do I want to stand up for?

• “You have a voice to a certain point, but also, the better golfer I am and the more recognizable golfer I am, the louder I can use that voice.”

4. Scott PAC chair

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Entering his 22nd season on the PGA Tour, Adam Scott will enjoy a first in his career this year as the newly elected chairman of the 16-member Player Advisory Council.”

• “Scott was elected chair by the Tour’s membership over Maverick McNealy and Kevin Streelman and will join the policy board for a three-year term starting next season.”

• “We have the ability to put the people in [charge at the Tour] who should be able to do the job. I think it’s getting to the point in our game where it’s getting maybe easy to see that there needs to be some accountability for all of this stuff all of a sudden across the game of golf,” Scott said last month at the Sony Open. “I think over my career there has probably been less of that because there hasn’t been a consequence for error, is the feeling as a player looking at the ecosystem of the game.”

5. LIV team rosters cometh

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”By the end of the week the full 2023 rosters for all 12 teams in the LIV Golf League will be revealed.”

• “LIV officials will announce the rosters of four teams per day, Wednesday, Feb. 15 to Friday, Feb. 17, as momentum builds to the first event of the season at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course in Mexico, Feb. 24-26.”

6. LIV making the Tour younger?

Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union…”Take a look at the field for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational this week in Los Angeles.”

• “Then glance at last year’s results at the Riviera Country Club.”

• “More than any other tournament so far on the 2022-23 Tour schedule, the impact of more than 20 former Tour players who are now playing on the LIV Golf League and are under suspension from the PGA Tour will be felt at the Genesis. It’s an impact that has been lessened with Tiger Woods’ announcement that he will play in the event he hosts, making his first start of the season.”

7. Rose, Schauffele commit to TGL

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”The latest commits to the new tech-focused golf league are bringing some gold with them.”

• “The last two Olympic gold medalists, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose, are joining the TGL, the primetime golf league in partnership with the PGA Tour. It will begin play in 2024. Schauffele and Rose make it 11 players committed of the 18 spots, joining Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, who are leading the league, and Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa and Billy Horschel.”

8. DP World Tour COO calls for LIV truce

Matt Smith for Golf Digest Middle East…”DP World Chief Communications Officer Danny van Otterdijk has called for a truce between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf, as the former European Tour seeks a resolution to its drawn-out feud and seeks to block players who have signed up for the new series from competing in its events.”

• “The PGA Tour has already banned the likes of Phil Mickelson and Brookes Koepka from teeing up in its competitions, but a UK arbitration hearing is ongoing, with LIV Golfers such as Patrick Reed and Ian Poulter continuing to contend in events such as the recent Hero Dubai Desert Classic in the UAE.”

• “Van Otterdijk insists communication is ongoing between DP World and LIV Golf, and he is optimistic of a peaceful resolution.”

• “Our friends at LIV Golf, we have great contact with them as the game grows in the region,” Van Otterdijk told Golf Digest Middle East at the recent Desert Classic, where world No. 1 Rory McIlroy edged out rival Reed for the crown during a stormy competition.”

9. Photos from Riv

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!