Tiger Woods hints at frustration after Rory McIlroy & Co.-led team suffers tough TGL defeat

A 2. 2 percent chance of winning after hole 13. Two holes won straight. Overtime is forced. Despite everything, Jupiter Links still faced a loss 7–6. Boston won the No. 1 seed by just four inches, while Tiger Woods, hindered by injury, had no choice but to watch it all happen.

After the loss, Woods seemed annoyed, an obvious sign of how painful the result was. Even Akshay Bhatia admitted it in the post-match press conference, “Obviously, Tiger being the more serious guy.” Woods may not be playing this season due to his injuries, but he is always there to provide support from the sidelines, so he is significantly invested in every result.

The scorecard backed that up. McIlroy and Bhatia both finished with 0 points in singles; Homa was Jupiter’s best scorer with 2 points, and Tom Kim scored 1.

In the triples, Jupiter won hole 3 via a hammer, but Boston quickly responded by winning holes 4 and 5 with the hammer in play on both. Jupiter lost the early hard-won holes, which set the tone for the rest of the night. Jupiter finished the triples 3-5 behind.

Even then, Jupiter almost succeeded. Tom Kim won hole 15, while Homa won holes 11 and 14, in singles. Those three consecutive wins pushed the match into overtime.

However, Boston took the lead in the tiebreaker after Keegan Bradley’s shot hit the flagstick.

McIlroy then missed his pitch into the bunker; Jupiter regained a point. It came down to Matsuyama against Homa. At 10 feet 4 inches, Matsuyama dropped his ball. Homa’s shot appeared better but bounced poorly and landed at 10 feet 8 inches. Boston secured the top seed by four inches.

Homa summed it up following the game. “They made a lot of putts on us, and kind of held us off.”

It was not a coincidence. Boston executed when it needed to, which made Jupiter’s late comeback feel even more brutal.

Before overtime, McIlroy had made the game-winning shot. He was nearly 240 yards out after his tee ball hit the hanging rock on the Stinger hole. He hit a swinging hook just seven feet. Broadcaster Kevin Kisner stated that only teen Tiger Woods could have made that shot.

McIlroy said, “I knew I had to hit a 30-yard hook. I was aiming it 30 yards right of the pin, so I just had to stand up there and trust my swing. Boston Common maintained its lead after earning a half on that hole.

The fact that his team has been lost makes it difficult for Woods. Rory McIlroy & Co. did not record a single victory in TGL’s first season. Jupiter was beaten on a side that went from the bottom of the table to first place in one year, and Woods had witnessed all of it.

“I think we’ve come a long way from last year,” said Keegan Bradley. “We’ve wanted to get the one seed.”

Jupiter is not finished yet. They need to safeguard their chances of getting into the playoffs. They must beat The Bay Golf Club on March 3. However, the defeat was not just about one bad night. Jupiter Links was facing problems hours before the match even started.