Getty Image
Tiger Woods made his TGL debut on Tuesday in what turned out to be a very lopsided match at his team’s expense. It was mostly a night to forget for his side, but there was a very memorable moment that summed up their outing thanks to the disastrous bunker shot Kevin Kisner attempted that left his legendary teammate and basically everyone else who saw it cracking up.
TGL, the high-tech simulator league marketed as the brainchild of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, premiered on January 7th to largely positive reviews after its inaugural broadcast attracted more than a million viewers. However, golf fans had to wait another week to watch the most dominant figure in the history of the sport make his debut.
Tiger was playing alongside Max Homa and Kevin Kisner on the squad dubbed Jupiter Links Golf Club (which also boasts Tom Kim, who is currently at PGA West for The American Express), and the man, myth, and legend made his grand arrival as “Eye of the Tiger” blasted at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach.
Tiger’s TGL entrance is electric ⚡️🐅
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/orQ9xwAzt9
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 15, 2025
It ended up being a rough night for Tiger’s crew, as the trio fell into a 5-0 hole against the Los Angeles Golf Club team comprised of Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, and Sahith Theegala before posting their first and only point of the night en route to losing the match in a 12-1 blowout.
Things had already gotten firmly out of hand by the time Kisner jumped in the bunker to try to close out the second-to-last hole with his side down 10-1, and things took an incredibly amusing turn when his shot rocketed out of the sand and struck the flagstick before rolling off the green in what is easily the most relatable moment TGL has produced so far.
Tiger is crying laughing after Kevin Kisner skulled it out of the bunker 😂 pic.twitter.com/vk0esrNPZ6
— ESPN (@espn) January 15, 2025
Tiger was just one of the many people in attendance who couldn’t help but laugh at the botched shot that led to a “ONE OF US!” chant breaking out in the arena, and Kisner almost treated us to an all-time moment when he rebounded with the chip shot that made a beeline for the cup before lipping out.
There’s no telling how the TGL experiment is going to pan out, but at least we’ll always have this.