Tiger Woods Apologizes For Tampon Moment With Justin Thomas

Tiger Woods is now apologizing for slipping a tampon to Justin Thomas after outdriving him on a hole during a round of golf on Thursday ... saying "it was supposed to be all fun and games."

"Obviously," the golfing legend added, "it hasn't turned out that way."

Woods played the prank -- which many have deemed to be sexist -- on his golfing buddy on the ninth hole of the duo's opening round at the Genesis Invitational ... after putting his tee shot some 20 yards past the 29-year-old PGA Tour star.

You can see in video of the two as they walked toward their balls on the fairway ... Woods handed over the Tampax, and when Thomas saw what it was, he immediately dropped it.

The guys then shared a big laugh and a side hug ... before continuing on with their round.

Woods, a father of a 15-year-old daughter, was panned for the move ... and following his second round at the event on Friday, he insisted he didn't mean to offend anybody with his actions.

"If I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I'm sorry," Woods said.

The 47-year-old went on to explain he and Thomas play jokes on each other all the time.

"I think this did not come across that way," he said. "But, between us, it was different."