Tiger Woods made his TGL debut on Tuesday night. Woods joined Max Homa and Kevin Kisner on Jupiter Links Golf Club to face Los Angeles Golf Club in the league's second week. Woods and Rory McIlroy founded the league as a part of TMRW Sports. In his TGL debut, Woods threw the hammer that doubled the stake of the hole which sparked social media reactions.
Woods dropped the yellow flag before hitting his tee shot. He wasted no time making an impact on the league he helped create. Fans took notice at the first shot Woods hit in competition in over six months.
@M94947Photos was fired up on social media, “This is amazing entertainment! Tiger tiger tiger!”
@c_hess23 loved it from the start, “Love the hammer on first hole.”
Jupiter Links and LAGC tied the first hole, giving the hammer back to Los Angeles tied at zero. Both teams got hammer-happy in the first few holes and that skewed the score towards LA. Woods, Homa, and Kisner struggled to get started in the match.
Meanwhile, the likes of Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala came out firing.
Tiger Woods will be the reason people watch TGL moving forward. He is arguably the greatest golfer of all time and will play more in the simulator league than the PGA Tour moving forward. While it is not the same as watching him compete at Augusta, he still moves the needle more than any other.
TGL started with solid ratings in Week 1. Nearly 1 million people tuned in to ESPN without the attraction of Woods and the league should expect a higher number this week.
Jupiter Links comes back to the TGL stage on Monday, January 27 against Rory McIlroy's Boston Common. Jupiter's fourth member, Tom Kim, could play in that match but it will also likely include Woods again.