PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Tiger Woods was the sixth and final player to walk out of the tunnel onto the court for his TGL debut Tuesday night.
No one announced his name. No need.
Survivor's “Eye of the Tiger” sounded, and that was enough for perhaps the greatest player in the history of golf. It's not like people inside Palm Beach State College's SoFi Center don't know who Woods is, and most probably even know how he, Rory McIlroy and others spent years trying to bring the concept of indoor golf to life on television.
“Now it's a reality,” Woods said.
The second week of the TGL is Tuesday night as Woods joins Kevin Kisner and Max Homa of Jupiter Links Golf Club against Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala of Los Angeles Golf Club.
Final score: Los Angeles 12, Jupiter 1, a 15-hole, made-for-television team tournament that included nine holes of alternating-hit three-way games, followed by six holes of singles — each player on each team had his own. Two holes. Despite the lopsided score, Woods was smiling throughout. The entire game lasted more than two hours, and he only took 20 shots.
Woods' team fell behind quickly on the scoreboard, falling 5-0. It could have been worse if Woods hadn't hit an 8-foot par to help his team tie on the fifth hole. That putt came after Woods slid 7 feet wide to his left.
“It's time, Tiger,” tennis legend Serena Williams said on ESPN broadcast. Williams is a longtime friend of Woods, so she found herself rooting for him — and she's part of the Los Angeles Golf Club ownership group, so she found herself rooting for both.
Woods had some classic moments, such as staring at his favorite ball as a super-high-tech video board recounted where it would fly outdoors. There were also frustrations; after he hit a 101-yard wedge into the water on the second hole of the 15-hole tournament, he shook his head while son Charlie sat in a seat overlooking the course, forbearing. Couldn't help but laugh.
Williams sat in the Los Angeles box, just to the right of the players' tee box, enjoying the spectacle of exit introductions, light and smoke shows and blaring music.
“It's crazy,” Williams said. “It's something you see in tennis. We see it in basketball all the time, right? We don't really see it that much in golf. In fact, we've never seen it in golf. a little.
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