Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf Tuesday night, and it couldn’t come at a better time for his Jupiter Links TGL team.
Woods told ESPN he will play in Game 2 of the best-of-three TGL Finals (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN App), a decision he announced after the Jupiter Links’ 6-5 loss to Los Angeles in Monday night’s opener in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Woods heads up for Jupiter but has been sidelined all season as he recovers from back surgery in October. Jupiter had Akshay Bhatia as an understudy, but Bhatia will play this week’s Hero Indian Open in New Delhi on the European Tour.
Against Los Angeles on Monday, Jupiter used Tom Keim, Kevin Kisner and Max Homa. Kisner, who was in the NBC broadcast booth during the PGA Tour’s Florida round, was in the lineup for only the second time since Feb. 2.
Woods’ team, which snuck into the TGL qualifier, could have taken a 1-0 lead in the finals, but Sahith Thegalla – who had struggled all night – found the fairway on the 15th and final hole and set up a two-putt birdie to turn the match around and give Los Angeles the win.
Theegala twice hit tee shots out of play, and hit another into a bunker that prevented Los Angeles from reaching the green on a two-par 5. He also missed a 3-foot putt that cost his team a point. But he ended up being the winner.
Jupiter led 5-4 en route to the closing hole 5, and Los Angeles dropped the hammer, meaning the hole was worth two points. Theegala ripped his drive down the fairway to fire a second shot to 35 feet. Kisner’s shot was just bogeyed into the rough, he found it on his second shot, and his wedge came just wide of the green. He missed his birdie putt from 20 feet to tie the hole — and win the match — by a narrow margin.
Jupiter led 3-2 after an alternate shot involving all three players through nine holes.
Los Angeles won the first two holes of singles with the lead, only for Kisner to hit a driver on the green on the 12th after Thigala’s hole. Which resulted in the match being tied at 4.
Jupiter regained a 5-4 lead when Justin Rose hit a 3-pointer from long range. Kim hit his putt for par from 3 to 6 feet, and Jupiter dropped the hammer. Los Angeles accepted, meaning that if she lost the hole she would lose the match. Tommy Fleetwood responded with a 4-foot putt to match birdie.
That took her to the 15th and final hole, and Theegala’s length — and accuracy — was the difference.
If Jupiter wins Game 2 on Tuesday night, Game 3 will immediately follow at the SoFi Center.
Woods, 50, underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in October. He also tore his left Achilles tendon last March.
The 15-time major winner has not played in an event since the Open Championship at Royal Troon in 2024.
He has been tight-lipped about his status for next month’s Masters, noting last week: “I said I’m working on it. Sometimes I have good days, sometimes bad days. Replacing the disc is not a lot of fun.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
