Golf legend Tiger Woods is under scrutiny on social media after being caught on camera handing a tampon to a fellow professional in what appears to be a bizarre prank.

Woods, 47, was playing in the first round of the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in California in a group with fellow American Justin Thomas and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy.

After Woods hit his drive from the ninth tee further than Thomas, the PGA Championship winner, he was seen slipping a tampon into Thomas’s hand as they walked down the fairway.

Thomas, 29, who is close friends with Woods, threw the item away and the pair shared a laugh as they made their way to their next shot.

The suggestion is that Woods was calling Thomas a woman for not being able to match his drive.

It was the first competitive tournament for Woods, a 15-time major-winner, since he played at The Open in St Andrews, in July 2022.

Two days after Woods last played at the Genesis Invitational tournament in 2021 he suffered serious injuries in a car crash which appeared to end his professional career.

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It’s not the first time that either golfer has courted controversy: Thomas apologised in 2021 after using a homophobic slur during a tournament in Hawaii, while Woods saw his marriage break down amid a series of infidelity allegations in 2009.

Reaction to the latest incident in the golf world was mixed.

Paige Spiranac, a female golfer, found it amusing and wrote on Twitter: “If anyone tries to cancel Tiger over this, we riot.”

However, another Twitter user called Flushing It, who describes themselves as an “ex pro”, asked whether the prank sat well with the sport’s attempts to attract more women.

“At a time where women’s golf is pushing on to higher and higher levels, I don’t think the ‘gift’ that Tiger gave to JT helps golf’s image. Is it supposed to be funny because women supposedly can’t hit a ball?”

Sky Sports golf presenter Sarah Stirk said “My overriding feeling is completely surprised and being honest really disappointed. The incident was crass. It was laddy, blokey behaviour – he’s saying ‘Look, I’ve outdriven you, you’re driving the ball like a woman’, effectively.

“To me, that says that females are inferior to men. That’s not what we want to be showcasing in the world of sport.”