Tiger Woods (left) and Kevin Kisner laugh off their disastrous debut in the TGL – AP/Marta Lavandier
Tiger Woods came out to “Eye Of The Tiger” on the second night of the tech-infused Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) and although he followed up this boxing-style entrance with a performance that left his team flat on the canvas, the audience was certainly appreciative.
Serena Williams, an investor in the indoor simulation league, was part of a 1,500-strong crowd packed into the Sofi Center, the $50 million purpose-built stadium near Woods’s home in South Florida.
Credit: TGL/Sky Sports
Indeed, Jupiter Links Golf Club is essentially the home team in this concept – part-owned by Woods and Rory McIlroy – but the support was soon to be disappointed. The Woods trio – with Max Homa and Kevin Kisner in support – were wiped out by a 12-1 scoreline by the LA Golf Club featuring England’s Justin Rose. Jupiter were so bad, Homa asked: “Are they going to kick us out of the league?”
The answer, of course, is naturally a deafening “no”. Woods is unashamedly the main draw, bringing out other household names on his own opening night, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis, not to mention Woods’ son Charlie and his mother, Kultida. The latter cheered when Woods finally holed a putt on the last, while Serena, notionally the owner of LAGC, quipped: “Well, it’s about time”.
Credit: TGL
Woods took it all in good spirits, almost falling over in hysterics when Kisner shanked a shot from a bunker that fortunately did not inflict damage on any spectators. Woods, 49, appreciates that his iconic status is central to TGL’s success and was prepared to send up his poor play.
“I think we might not break 100,” Woods said on the ESPN broadcast. “We’ve had about five balls in the hazard. I flubbed a bunker shot, Kiz almost killed somebody… ”
It will be intriguing to see the audience figures when they are published on Thursday. The first match attracted one million and that was regarded as a decent return but they will expect a lot more with the 15-time major winner involved. With Woods still fighting to recover from a sixth back operation in September, there are fears his competitive appearances on the Tour proper might be severely limited and TGL might be as good as it gets.
‘The walking’s not the issue it’s my game that’s not very good’
Afterwards, Woods expressed doubts if will be able to play in next month’s Genesis Invitational, that his charitable foundation promotes. “As far as playing, I walked all three rounds at PNC [the Tour’s father and son event, last month], and had a great time there,” he said. “The walking’s not the issue it’s my game that’s not very good.”
Woods plays his first tee shot in the TGL – AP/Marta Lavandier
Of course, it is hugely doubtful that the Genesis will take place at its traditional home of Riviera Golf Club in LA, which is near the epicentre of the raging wildfires.
“We’re just trying to figure everything out and make sure that everyone is safe and we have meetings scheduled going forward,” Woods said. “But, as of right now, we’re not really focused on the tournament. It’s more about what we can do to help everyone who’s struggling, who’ve lost homes and had their lives changed.
“It’s just sad. Max and I have grown up there. We’re So Cal kids. To see what has happened, I’ve known a couple of people who lost everything, so it’s just hard.”
