PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA | Justin Rose was standing in the middle of the SoFi Center floor Tuesday night, heart jumping as the introductions were being made for the second-ever TGL match when the instantly recognizable opening notes of “Eye of the Tiger” thundered through the arena.
Each of the six players in the Tuesday night television show were allowed to pick their own walk-out music and when it came time for the final introduction, Tiger Woods walked into a future he helped create.
Maybe the song choice leaned toward cliché but not to Rose.
“A cool moment,” said Rose, who flew from Abu Dhabi Sunday night back to Florida to play his first TGL match.
The intro may have been the best moment for Woods and his Jupiter Links Golf Club teammates as they were almost humorously overmatched in a 12-1 loss to the Los Angeles Golf Club.
“We were entertaining. We hit a lot of shots. I think the people here, they got to see how bad pros can be,” Woods said, standing alongside his teammates Max Homa and Kevin Kisner.
It’s a fair observation.
“All jokes aside, this is an entertainment thing,” Homa said. “I do think today hopefully came across as fun. The matches will be closer.”
While Rose, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala played with a noticeable purpose representing Los Angeles Tuesday night, the competition remains almost secondary to the TGL experience.
The secret sauce for this new cutting-edge creation: Personality.
While it may not have initially felt that way to them, it was fun to watch and listen to Woods and his running mates as they dealt with their own poor play.
When Woods missed a par-3 green far to the left, he deadpanned that his shot had been hit by a big gust of wind. If only…
It got so bad that, after Woods hit a tee shot in the water in his singles match against Rose, Homa said, “Here’s what we’ve learned – we need to work on our drops.”
Kisner even asked why he was getting all the needling (he didn’t play well) while Woods seemed to skate when he was less than perfect. The truth is, Kisner earned every bit of it Tuesday night.
On the ninth hole, Woods looked at his 15-year-old son Charlie sitting nearby and said, “We’re getting absolutely killed.” Kisner chimed in, saying, “Want to sub in?”
That’s how Woods and TGL make this more than a novelty – by emphasizing the fun.
It got so bad that, after Woods hit a tee shot in the water in his singles match against Rose, Homa said, “Here’s what we’ve learned – we need to work on our drops.”
Even Keegan Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain and a member of the Boston Common Golf Club that plays its first match later this month, said he would like to play Kisner, who hit three shots into penalty areas and skulled a bunker shot in his first match. Kisner will have his advantage soon enough when he settles in behind the NBC Sports microphone again.
At the end, Woods was wiping away tears from laughing so hard at Kisner and his team’s ineptitude.
It might eventually matter which teams win but both matches played have been such blowouts that there has been no competitive edge. The only heartbeat pounding is the one that ticks down the final 15 seconds of the shot clock, getting progressively louder, a sound Rose heard more than anyone else.
Walking into the SoFi Center, on the campus of Palm Beach State College and close enough to the Atlantic Ocean to smell the salt water, it feels like walking into a basketball or hockey arena. Attending golf events is at least partly about walking outside, wandering through the trees, climbing the hills, feeling the elements.
The SoFi Center feels like golf’s version of Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, minus the Crazies. It’s as cozy as a 1,500-seat indoor golf arena can be but in the moments before play begins, it thumps like a club after midnight, the dance music pulsing like it never will at Augusta.
Because it’s Tiger, every public appearance with a golf club in his hand feels like a referendum on his future. If that’s the case, Woods looked physically comfortable Tuesday night even if his game was ragged.
He walked with only a hint of a limp and his swing looked fluid, not labored as it has so often in recent years. Admittedly, it’s indoor golf with no serious walking involved but it looked easier for Woods than it has in a long time – other than a chunked bunker shot and a handful of off-line shots.
“The walking is not the issue,” Woods said. “It’s my game is not very good.”
Next month, the Genesis Invitational hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation is scheduled to be played at Riviera Country Club in the heart of the fire-ravaged region. Woods said discussions are continuing about the fate of the event, which seems likely to be played elsewhere this year.
Beyond the fun Tuesday was the grim backdrop of the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, which hit close to home for Woods, Homa, Morikawa and Theegala, each of whom grew up in the area.
Theegala was at Pepperdine University in 2018 when fires roared through the area and it’s as if he’s reliving it again. His caddie’s sister’s house was lost in the fire last week.
“It’s scarier than anything that’s being described,” Theegala said.
Next month, the Genesis Invitational hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation is scheduled to be played at Riviera Country Club in the heart of the fire-ravaged region. Woods said discussions are continuing about the fate of the event, which seems likely to be played elsewhere this year.
“We’re not really focused on the tournament right now,” Woods said. “There are so many other things that are bigger than that.”