By The newly formed Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) had its best match so far on Monday with Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links claiming a 4-3 overtime victory against fellow co-founder Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common.
After an impressive 31-foot birdie putt from Boston’s Adam Scott leveled the score at 3-3 on Hole 14, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner won the nearest-the-pin shootout for the Links to record the tournament’s first ever OT win.
“This is what we had envisioned for TGL, to have an experience like this, and I think we delivered,” said Woods after the 4-3 victory.
“It couldn’t have been a more pleasurable display of golf and banter. Everyone in the audience was engaged. Hopefully, the viewership was engaged. We as players loved it.”
The TGL, which has been spearheaded by Woods and McIlroy, sees teams of three face off across 15 holes at the 1,500-capacity SoFi Center in Florida. Hitting tee and approach shots into a simulator before moving to a real-life green, teams are awarded one point for each hole they win, and no points for a tie.
“It was a great match all night, back and forth, and exactly what the league needed,” said McIlroy, per the BBC. “It’s been really cool to hear that a younger demographic, it’s resonated with them.
“One of the visions when we started was to try to engage that younger demographic and give them a bite-sized version of golf that they could get into and understand, and hopefully, we’ve done that,” he added.
After the first two holes were tied, the Common took the lead when they threw the “Hammer” – which teams can play to make a hole worth two points instead of one – and the Links declined it, meaning they conceded the hole.
Jupiter tied the match at 1-1 on Hole 6 when Boston conceded a birdie, but went behind again on Hole 10 when Woods took too long to take a shot – the first shot clock violation in TGL history – and the resulting one-stroke penalty handed the point to the Common.
The score was leveled again on the following hole when McIlroy declined Jupiter’s “Hammer,” before the Links went ahead for the first time, taking Hole 12 with a birdie thanks to an excellent tee shot from Kim.
The moment of the match came on Hole 14, when Scott’s 31-foot putt gave him the point over Kisner to make it 3-3. A tie on the final hole sent the contest to overtime, in which players face off in a nearest-the-pin shootout, won on this occasion by Kim and Kisner.
The victorious Jupiter Links are now 1-1 having been thrashed 12-1 in their opening game by Los Angeles Golf Club. They will play New York Golf Club on February 18.
McIlroy’s Common, who were making their debut in the tournament, are next in action against Los Angeles Golf Club on February 5.
