(Reuters) – Tiger Woods and his Jupiter Links Golf Club team prevailed in overtime 4-3 over Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf squad in the best match yet of the inaugural TGL season.
The indoor golf contest was tight throughout but Woods’ teammates Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner came up with clutch shots in overtime to deliver the win.
TGL co-founders Woods and McIlroy said the compelling match was exactly what they had in mind when they first hatched the idea of the league, which plays its matches in a custom-built arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“It couldn’t have been a more pleasurable display of golf, banter,” Woods told reporters.
“Everyone in the audience was engaged. Hopefully all the viewership were engaged. We as players loved it.
“This is what we had envisioned for TGL, to have an experience like this, and I think we delivered.”
McIlroy, who was making his TGL debut alongside Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott, praised Woods, the best player of his generation who bounced back from a 12-1 loss against the Los Angeles Golf Club earlier this month.
Woods eventful round included a shot clock violation, a clutch seven-foot putt on the 13th hole, and ultimately, victory.
“He stepped up and delivered like he usually does,” McIlroy said.
“It was a great match all night, back and forth, and exactly what the league needed.”
TGL’s debut drew nearly a million viewers on ESPN and McIlroy said he hopes the league, which utilizes a five-story simulator screen as well as an actual, tech-infused green, can help attract a new generation to fans to the sport.
“It’s been really cool to hear that a younger demographic, it’s sort of resonated with them,” McIlroy said.
“That’s a really cool thing. One of the visions when we started was to try to engage that younger demographic and give them a bite-sized version of golf that they could get into and understand, and hopefully we’ve done that.”
The 15-match regular season runs through March 4, followed by the playoffs later that month.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Michael Perry)
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