Palm Beach Gardens – The stage was set for the two marquee names to finally face off against each other at the SoFi Center – Tiger Woods vs Rory McIlroy . . . two of the founders of the TGL led their respective teams Jupiter Links and Boston Common into the most anticipated match of the new start up arena golf league.
TGL and ESPN were in dire need of some late competitive drama after the first three matches ended in blowouts. Tiger vs Rory could only hold so much juice, and luckily the two teams didn’t disappoint. Thru hole 8 at the intermission, the tally was Boston 1, Jupiter 1, with clutch putts being drained on both sides. The SoFi Center was alive, and the banter among the players was lively.
TGL’s youngest player, Tom Kim, made an 8- footer for birdie at the ninth to tie the hole and keep the match even at 1-1 entering Singles. With the match tied 2-2 at the short par-3 12th called “On the Rocks”, Kim hit his tee shot inside three feet for a conceded birdie to give Jupiter the lead. Adam Scott sent his Boston teammates into a frenzy at the par-3 14th, making a 31-foot birdie putt to win the hole and tie the match at 3-3.
The drama lasted all the way through regulation with the score 3-3. Tom Kim nearly holed a bunker shot, and Keegan Bradley missed his 15 foot putt to seal the victory . . . so we went to overtime. The overtime format is a 37 yard pitch, closest two out of three wins. Jupiter Links led off with Kisner, who was the goat a few weeks back in Match 2 – but not this week, Kiz pitched it closer than Keegan Bradley, and then Tom Kim who may have shined brightest on this night, bested Adam Scott to close out the match. “I thrive in these environments,” Kim said. “It was so good to have good partners, experienced partners, and I’m just so glad we got a (win) today.”
“It is so different than normal golf, playing in a bigger screen like this or the green moving and contorting the breaks. … This is what we had envisioned for TGL, to have an experience like this, and I think we delivered.” – Tiger Woods
Boston will get another crack at it next week at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday against Los Angeles Golf Club, while Jupiter is back in action at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 against New York Golf Club.
*Match notes – Tiger Woods made the first birdie in Jupiter Links history, and later in the match he committed the first delay of game, loss of hole penalty – when he failed to hit his putt within the allotted time.
With the win, Jupiter Links goes to 1-1, while Boston Common is 0-1.
