
Tiger Woods has made TGL history after he became the first player to break a rule he helped create.
The shock rule break occurred on the tenth hole as Woods’ Jupiter Links GC took on Boston Common GC.
Woods was steadying himself ahead of his attempt to sink an eight-foot putt on the green at the SoFi Center in Florida.
But before he could even tap the ball, a loud buzzer sounded as members of Boston Common GC began to celebrate.
It was because Woods had not hit his ball inside the allotted 40 seconds on the shot clock, making him the first player in TGL history to commit a shot-clock violation.
As a result, the 15-time major winner was handed an automatic one-stroke penalty.
The penalty meant Woods could not match Boston’s Rory McIlroy, who had carded a birdie on the hole.
Woods cut a frustrated figure as he walked away having allowed Boston to take a 2-1 lead.
The 15-time major winner pointed to a key element of his pre-shot routine as the reason why he fell foul of the 40-second shot timer.
“Normally I slow my heart rate down before I pull the trigger,” Woods said.
“So dropping my heart rate down sometimes takes a little bit longer than others.
“As I told these guys, it’s on me. I should have called time out as I built in my stance because of the time.
“But I was dropping my heart rate down like I normally would. It just took too long.”
Luckily for Woods, he was able to atone for his error just three holes later.
A seven-foot putt from the 49-year-old on the 13th hole ensured he and McIlroy split it, as Jupiter Links led with just two holes remaining.
But Boston Common’s Adam Scott won the 14th over Kevin Kisner to level the scores at 3-3.
With both teams tied at the end of 15 holes, it forced the match into overtime which would be decided by a sudden-death pitch-off.
The pitch-off would be decided by which player was closest to the pin.
Jupiter Links’ Tom Kim landed his effort just over 10 feet away from the pin, beating Boston Common’s Keegan Bradley who was 26 feet away.
Kisner sealed a 4-3 victory for Jupiter Links with his shot that was 14 feet from the pin as Adam Scott could not better it for Boston Common, hitting his shot 21 feet away.
The win was Jupiter Links’ first of the season having lost to Los Angeles GC in their opener.
As for Boston Common, their inaugural match went down as a loss.
What is TGL?
Simply put, TGL is an indoor simulator golf league featuring the game’s top players.
It takes place at a super high-tech arena called the SoFi Centre in Florida with a live crowd of around 1,500 people.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were the ones who came up with it, with the help of a guy called Mike McCarley, as part of their TMWR Sports venture.
It’s got a bunch of big-name investors, like Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, and Fenway Sports Group – who own Liverpool. ESPN and Sky Sports signed up to broadcast it.
How do they compete?
There’s six teams of four, all franchises based on US cities, and all featuring top PGA Tour players. No LIV Golfers.
There is one head-to-head match each week lasting just two hours for a primetime TV slot in the States.
There is also a 40-second shot clock and timeouts and referees to enforce the rules.
All of the players are mic’d up to ensure maximum entertainment value.
How does it work?
For shots longer than 50 yards, players hit into this enormous screen, which is 53 foot tall and 64 foot wide.
That’s about 24 times the size of your normal golf simulator. They play off real grass, the rough and the fairways are reflected on the surface, and it even moves to reflect the slope.
The green complex has 600 motorised sensors underneath it and 360 degree rotation to simulate the exact real life scenario facing the players.
The bunkers have the same sand as Augusta National, and they’ve even thought about the direction of the grain around the greens.
Format
Each team picks three players, they play 15 holes. The first nine holes are ‘Trebles’ – three-on-three matchplay, with each player taking turns to hit the shots.
The final six holes are ‘Singles’ – one-on-one matchplay with each player playing 2 holes.
If it’s all square after 15, they go to overtime and play closest to the pin.
Teams get two points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and zero points for a regulation loss.
There will be Play-Offs in March with semi-finals and a final to determine the league’s overall winner – with a $21million purse to be divided among players. –talksport.com