TGL golf results, takeaways: Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links gets blown out by Los Angeles in founder’s debut match

The second TGL match took place Tuesday night as Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club fell decisively to the Collin Morikawa-helmed Los Angeles Golf Club. While most golf fans were pumped to see the 15-time major champion in action, a start time two hours earlier than the last match was quite welcome.

Max Homa, Kevin Kisner and a benched Tom Kim stood alongside Woods while Sahith Theegala and Justin Rose played with Morikawa as Tommy Fleetwood watched from the sideline, though it was safe to assume Fleetwood was following along in Dubai where the match started at 4 a.m. local time.

Tuesday’s match was over before it even started. Los Angeles got on a roll, hit a few decent shots, made a couple nice putts and — lo and behold — that was all it took to take down a 49-year-old, a television analyst and a PGA Tour pro. The final tally was 12 to 1, but they say life is about the journey and not the destination, so let’s see how Los Angeles Golf Club reached this victory.

Pregame

After a pre-match interview with the 82-time PGA Tour winner where Woods said “it doesn’t get better than this,” we are onto what has become arguably the best part of TGL — the player introductions. Theegala’s 13 career top-five finishes and Homa’s Walker Cup experience were both listed in theirs. That just seemed rude.

Reddit founder and LAGC co-owner Alexis Ohanian looks to be taking a hands-on approach to owning a “sports” team. He shook more hands than a presidential candidate, but his enthusiasm was quickly cooled when the arena quieted for the introduction of the Big Cat.

The smoke machine ripped, Tiger waited an extra minute to build anticipation, “Eye of the Tiger” began to play, and Woods did his best Zoolander strut down a laughably long hallway. Cue the pan to a straight-faced Serena Williams.

Triples (LA: 8 | JUP: 1)

Tiger tossed the hammer — doubling the points unless contested — on the opening hole only for the teams to wind up tying. This could be improved by making the hammer something more substantial than a sponsored towel — like, oh I don’t know, an actual hammer — and allowing ties to carry over in 0.5-point increments because … why not?

LAGC drew first blood on No. 2 thanks to “water” balls from both Homa and Woods. Tiger then made the announcer retell a joke about drinking too many protein shakes, which is always the best way to tell a joke. Meanwhile, we got to enjoy an on-course report analyzing every angle of Tiger’s walkout. Again, it was the best part of the early goings.

Williams, a LAGC co-owner married to Ohanian, joined the booth and openly rooted for Woods’ Jupiter Links team.

By hole No. 5, LAGC went up 5-0. Morikawa found the green and Kisner laid up for what turned out to be his best shot of the evening. A tied hole led to the substantial advantage remaining. We also got to see the likes of Keegan Bradley, Alex Morgan, Brandon Marshall and Shane Lowry in attendance. Plus, a third or fourth shot of Charlie Woods, this time listed among the celebrities; glad we aren’t putting too much pressure on the kid.

Jupiter Links got on the board eventually, but Theegala halted the momentum on the next hole before Rose buried them shortly thereafter. The home crowd — Jupiter is 15 minutes from SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens — was completely silenced at this point. Life-long Jupiter Links fans headed for the exits in droves. Time for the T-shirt cannon and mascot race!

Most Valuable Player: Rose was great, and Theegala brought the heat, but Kisner personified what it meant to be the “most valuable player.” Unfortunately, it was for the other team.

Singles (LA: 4 | JUP: 0)

The players returned from the locker room, and we were met with an on-course report regarding the ideal hammer strategy. Well-timed given the first double hammer in TGL history was thrown moments later.

Morikawa beat Kisner to extend LA’s lead and end the match as Tiger limped to a double bogey after hitting another ball in the “water.” Kisner then bladed his greenside bunker straight into the pin and almost made the comeback chip from the other side of the green. 

Homa was asked, had that shot gone in, if it would it have been the greatest moment in golf history. I didn’t hear his answer, but one can only assume it was a resounding “yes.” 

The match ended soon after that putting Week 2 of TGL in the books. There was noticeably less juice compared to the opener with gameplay slogging and the broadcast exceeding its window, which angered some college basketball fans.

Would a closer match and better play improve TGL? There’s certainly a chance, but two blowouts have hardly made it a compelling product through as many weeks.

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