Tiger Woods returned to competition for the first time in more than a year, but it wasn’t enough to stop Los Angeles Golf Club from capturing the SoFi Cup with a dominant 9-2 victory in Tuesday night’s TGL final at Palm Beach Gardens.
Woods, who had been serving as captain and cheerleader for Jupiter Links while recovering from October back surgery, decided Monday evening he was ready to play. He replaced Kevin Kisner after Los Angeles won the first match in the best-of-3 series.
The 15-time major champion’s biggest moment unfortunately came when he missed a 3-foot putt on the seventh hole, slamming his putter to the turf in frustration. That mistake shifted momentum to LA, and the match ended quickly – after just 10 holes in the scheduled 15-hole format.
“We got our butts kicked at the end,” Woods said. “Three eagles in a row. I missed a short one to give them momentum and we never got it back.”
Woods gave no indication whether he’ll play in the Masters on April 9-12. His body continues to be the limiting factor in his competitive schedule.
“This body… it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn’t mean I’m not trying,” Woods said. “I’ve had a couple bad injuries here over the past years that I’ve had to fight through and it’s taken some time. But I keep trying.”
When asked about Augusta National, Woods was noncommittal: “I want to play. I love the tournament. I’m going to be there either way with The Loop that’s going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner… We’ll see how it goes. I’ll be practicing, playing at home this week and keep trying to make progress.”
The match turned dramatically after Woods’ missed putt gave LA its first lead at 3-2. Tommy Fleetwood immediately followed with a 12-foot eagle putt on the reachable par-4 eighth.
Things went from bad to worse for Jupiter Links when a strategic gamble backfired. Max Homa had suggested throwing a “hammer” – making the hole worth two points – on a par 5 during alternate shot. The move proved costly.
Fleetwood drove into a bunker while Woods kept his 3-wood short of trouble. Homa hit the approach to 15 feet, giving Jupiter an eagle chance. But Justin Rose countered with a brilliant bunker shot to just inside 15 feet. After Tom Kim missed Jupiter’s eagle attempt, Sahith Theegala drained his putt to extend LA’s lead to 6-2 heading into singles.
The match ended on the very next hole. Homa missed the fairway on a reachable par 5 and had to lay up. Rose hit the fairway and rolled his second shot to 4 feet. LA threw the hammer (making the hole worth three points), and when Homa missed his putt and Rose’s eagle was conceded, Los Angeles walked off with the $9 million team prize.
“It sucked,” Homa told ESPN bluntly. “Not going to give you a whole lot more than that.”
Homa later admitted confusion about the format: “I thought we had to win the hole to extend the matches. It was just a really dumb move on my part.”
Jupiter Links settled for $4.5 million as runners-up.
For Woods, who hasn’t competed since early March 2025 after rupturing his Achilles tendon before undergoing his seventh back surgery in October, it was simply about playing again – even in an indoor golf league. His early highlights included a 3-wood from 279 yards that set up a birdie for a 1-0 lead, and a well-judged 45-foot putt that gave Jupiter a 2-0 advantage.
Beyond TGL, Woods still hasn’t announced whether he’ll accept the U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy for the 2027 matches in Ireland. The PGA of America hopes for an answer by month’s end.
But Tuesday night, Woods was focused only on the match at hand: “It felt great to be back with these guys. Frustrated we didn’t get it done. We had opportunities. It feels good to be back. I’d like to be back in better circumstances.”
