After three blowout matches, TGL needed some competitive flair, and the start-up league received just that on Monday night.
Tiger Woods, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner of Jupiter Links Golf Club took down the heavily favored Boston Common Golf Club in overtime by a score of 4-to-3. Boston arrived at its TGL debut with all three of its players ranked within the top 25 in the world: four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, and current Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. On the other hand, Jupiter Links had an average world ranking of 664 entering Monday’s match.
But none of that mattered.
On numerous occasions, Kim, the star of the show, stepped up to the plate and delivered. He made multiple putts that wound up halving the hole. He also came close to recording the first hole-in-one in TGL history, as his ball settled just two feet away from the pin on the 12th hole. Three holes later, Kim almost holed out from the sand for a birdie, a mere moments after leaving his third shot in the bunker. He did this all while yelling, screaming, and enticing the crowd, just as he did at the Presidents Cup last September. Kim’s energy is exactly what TGL needed, especially considering the snooze-fest the league’s third match turned into last week.
“I thrive in these team environments, and it was so good to have good partners, experienced partners,” Kim said.
“I’m just so glad we got a point today.”
Woods, who co-founded the league with McIlroy, was thrilled with how everything turned out, especially since his team won.
“[Kim] was unbelievable coming in here,” Woods said.
“We did some good work the other day, and today it couldn’t have been a more pleasurable display of golf, banter. Everyone in the audience was engaged. Hopefully, all the viewership was engaged. We, as players, loved it. This is what we had envisioned for TGL: to have an experience like this, and I think we delivered it.”
Indeed, this made-for-TV product finally delivered. It had unpredictability, a vital aspect to this venture considering how whacky and theatrical golf can quickly become. Fans want to see golf shots and where those shots end up — a reality that will never change for as long as people watch and play this sport. Monday’s match also had tremendous banter, especially from Woods and Kisner, who delivered a couple of one-liners that had everyone laughing. Oh, and Woods also recorded the first shot-clock violation in TGL history, a joke that can write itself.
“I think the nature of competition is you’re going to have some matches that are blowouts, and you’re going to have some matches that are really tight. I think it was really cool that tonight was one of those matches that was really tight. I think the people in the arena seemed to enjoy it, and hopefully the people at home seemed to enjoy it, too,” McIlroy said.
“But that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be other matches that mightn’t be as close. It certainly helps from an entertainment perspective to have it that night, but that’s something that we can’t guarantee. This is competition, as well, at the end of the day, and we’re all trying to beat each other as best as we can.”
Considering TGL faced some much-deserved criticism in the weeks after its debut, the league needed a bounce-back on Monday. And luckily for golf’s newest venture, its most prominent stars delivered in more ways than one: fans saw a competitive match, plenty of joshing, and on top of it all, everyone — from those at the SoFi Center to those watching on ESPN — was entertained from start to finish.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.