For his big return to the TGL on Tuesday evening, Tiger Woods only had to stroll around the arena to the words and melody of Eye of the Tiger, global hit from the group Survivor. The announcer at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens didn’t even have to say the name of one of the greatest golfers in history. It was useless for the start of his new adventure in the world of virtual Golf that he set up with Rory McIlroy.
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But it started off on a bad foot for his team and him in an entertaining match marked by several brilliant shots.
Sometimes precise, sometimes wandering, the “fat cat” kept on the sidelines for most of the 2024 season due, in particular, to a ninth back surgery last September, had fun alongside Kevin Kisner and Max Homa.
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Oh yes, because on the sporting side, his Jupiter Links team ate a sincere volley on the board, courtesy of Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala of the Los Angeles club.
Kisner gaffe
It was not the final score of 12 to 1 that made the rounds on social networks in the evening, but a missed shot by Kevin Kisner from the bunker at the 14th and penultimate hole of the match. His ball hit the flag head-on and ended up in the crowd, triggering fits of laughter from his teammates, rivals and spectators. Pros are capable of the best and the worst, just like Sunday golfers on the fairways.
“It was entertaining. We hit a lot of shots and people saw how bad the pros can be sometimes, explained Woods, still amused at the end of the evening. Very early on, it was a race to catch up with LA who had taken a good lead. But we had a lot of fun.
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“It’s a unique concept and never seen before,” he added. This arena and this camaraderie, everyone has fun.”
As for his game, Woods still has some things to eat before returning to the fairways and hoping to place himself at the height of the competition.
“Walking is not my problem. My game is really not good,” he said four months after his most recent surgery.
Why not the first?
Behind the scenes of professional golf, it is rumored that the 15-match schedule for this first season of the TGL is intended to be a real headache. It coincides with the start of the real season on the PGA Tour, where players are in Hawaii and on the Pacific Coast.
This is notably the reason why the teams of Woods and Rory McIlroy, the founders of the project, did not face each other in the inaugural match last week.
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A virtual clash between the two great golf stars would undoubtedly have been a perfect strategy to plaster the TGL all over the networks. Fans and the curious will have to wait until January 27 to see this duel.
Next week, the majority of the eight players from both teams are in the field for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. They will therefore travel to Florida to participate in their match at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens.
Ditto for the duel at the end of January between Jupiter Links and Boston Common while the traditional AT&T Pro-Am is being played at Pebble Beach, the second “signature” tournament of the PGA season.
Not bad
Furthermore, the media specializing in the world of sports business, Front Office Sports, reported that the first match in the history of the TGL attracted an average of 919,000 viewers on January 7, according to Nielsen data. The first half hour of telecast on ESPN saw a peak of 1.1 million viewers.
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Not so bad for a match between the New York team made up of Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele against that of Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark.
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It’s a safe bet that Tiger and Rory would have pushed the ratings needle much further…
