Tiger Woods Posts Career-Worst Score in TGL Match vs McIlroy

Tiger Woods found himself on the wrong side of history in TGL’s fourth week. He became the league’s first player to receive a shot-clock violation, adding an unexpected twist to Monday night’s match against Rory McIlroy.

The moment came during singles play, with Woods facing an 8-foot birdie putt to tie McIlroy on the first hole. The shot clock expired mid-stroke, and though Woods missed the putt anyway, the one-stroke penalty officially handed the point to McIlroy. That put BostonCommon up 2-1 over Jupiter Links with five holes left in singles.

Before the clock drama, both players had put on a show with their approach shots on the par-5 10th (nicknamed “Spear”). Woods crushed a 3-wood 267 yards to 30 feet, and McIlroy answered with a towering 3-wood of his own that flew 270 yards to 20 feet.

Woods’ first putt ran well past after misjudging a ridge that swept the ball to the upper tier.

“Well, that’s not good,” Woods said to himself.

McIlroy nestled his putt close for a gimme, putting the pressure on Woods. That’s when things got interesting. Woods, along with teammates Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim, spent too much time reading the putt. With just 10 seconds left on the 40-second clock, Woods finally stepped up to the ball – but it was too late.

Woods later explained his process: “Normally I slow my heart rate down before I pull the trigger, and sometimes that takes longer than others. I should’ve called timeout as I built in my stance. It’s on me.”

The timing violation comes amid renewed discussions about slow play on the PGA Tour, especially after CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper criticized the pace during this weekend’s Farmers Insurance Open.

Justin Thomas, asked about implementing shot clocks on the PGA Tour after last week’s TGL match, wasn’t optimistic about major changes.

“It’s tough,” Thomas said. “You have to make such drastic changes for it to be noticeable. Are rounds going to be 12 minutes faster? 20 minutes faster? It’s hard to realistically make a big enough difference.”

Even TGL, with its shot clock in place, ran about 10 minutes over its planned two-hour broadcast window before heading to overtime, where Jupiter Links ultimately won through a closest-to-the-pin contest.