Tiger Woods on Tuesday made his first start since the death of his mother when he competed in a TGL match at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
It was all over in a proverbial New York Minute for Woods and his Jupiter Links GC teammates Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim as they lost 10-3 in a one-sided shellacking at the hands of the New York Golf Club.
A rampant New York team of Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young stormed to an 8-0 lead before coasting to their first victory of the season in the indoor league played on a golf simulator.
Despite the result, Woods seemed to enjoy plenty of laughs, feeding off the humor of his livewire teammate Kisner, and the 15-time major champion appeared more relaxed than in his TGL debut three weeks ago.
His mother Kultida was in the gallery that night, but she died eight days later, on Feb. 4, at the age of 80, which prompted her son to pull out of last week’s PGA Tour Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, stating that he was still processing the loss.
“She really enjoyed watching me play and it was awesome to have her in the stands,” Woods said of his mother’s presence at his previous TGL match. “It was a great moment and I’m definitely appreciative of her being here. I had a hard time driving down here. I hadn’t hit a golf ball since I played with the president (Trump on Feb. 9).
“It’s been a hard process. I really haven’t thought about golf, and I don’t think I’ll be thinking about it for a bit here.”
Woods, Kisner and Tom Kim did not get on the board until the ninth hole (of 15) on Tuesday. By then the match was all but over as New York improved to 1-2 for the season. Jupiter Links dropped to 1-2.
Woods also admitted that the evening included “one of the most embarrassing moments in my golfing career.”
Due to a misunderstanding with his caddie, Woods hit his second shot on the 13th hole 100 yards when he was actually 199 yards away from the green.
Woods’ teammates laughed heartily at the error.
“I just screwed up,” Woods said. “That was embarrassing.”
Six teams are competing in the inaugural season of the fast-paced league, which is attempting to appeal to a young demographic by encouraging players, among other things, to indulge in what passes in golf for trash-talking.
“We’re here for the entertainment,” Kisner said just before hitting his tee shot into a bunker at the 14th hole.
“That’s a lot more fun than the last two matches,” said Fowler, happy to be on the victorious side.
–Reuters
