Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods met for the first time as opponents on Monday as they faced off in the ninth-week matchup of the Premier Golf League’s inaugural season
Rory McIlroy missed a winning putt on his TGL debut (Image: ESPN)
Tiger Woods couldn’t resist laughing at Rory McIlroy when he missed a relatively straightforward putt during his TGL debut, serving up a reminder of his agonising collapse at last year’s US Open.
During their first meetup as TGL co-founders, Woods and McIlroy were in action, with the Jupiter Links Golf Club squaring off against Boston Common Gold at SoFi Centre. It was a significant evening for the golfing powerhouses, but McIlroy squandered a golden chance to snatch an early advantage.
Monday’s match saw McIlroy’s squad calling the hammer on the very first hole, doubling the points on offer. But when the moment came, McIlroy’s attempt missed the mark, prompting Woods to theatrically pick up the hammer and ironically swing it.
McIlroy was left gazing skywards, and the nerves clearly played a part; even the star from Northern Ireland confessed to feeling jittery after his initial drive. “Heart was pumping a little bit, legs were a little bit shaky,” he said after his first swing. TGL may hail from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but the United States has been less than gracious to McIlroy of late, having cruelly quashed his major-winning aspirations in Pinehurst, North Carolina, last season.
McIlroy came tantalisingly close to clinching his first major since August 2014 at last year’s U.S. Open, but ended up a mere stroke behind the champion Bryson DeChambeau. McIlroy had a two-stroke lead as he approached the final five holes, only to bogey three of his closing four.
The most gut-wrenching moment for McIlroy was on the 18th hole when a par putt narrowly missed, leaving him to watch and pray that DeChambeau wouldn’t surpass him. That miss turned out to be costly as DeChambeau edged one stroke ahead to snatch the championship from McIlroy.
Caught on camera inside the clubhouse, McIlroy could be seen turning away in frustration as the title evaded him. Within just 10 minutes, McIlroy had exited the venue and was unwilling to speak to the media, subsequently announcing a brief hiatus from golf.
In a statement, McIlroy kindly offered his congratulations: “Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson,” adding, “He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that. But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives.”
Concluding with a testament to his perseverance, he noted, “As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have. The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again.”
McIlroy was disgusted with himself after letting his U.S. Open lead slip ( Image:
Getty Images) In contrast, McIlroy was surprisingly positive after missing his putt on Monday, just moments after he had sung praises of his business partner, co-founder, and now dear friend, Tiger. “They always say never meet your heroes and that quite frankly is nowhere near the truth,” McIlroy remarked.
Reflecting on their relationship, he said, “When I met Tiger back when I was 15 or 16, to coming through in the pro game, to calling him a friend, a business partner, a colleague. He’s always been amazing to me, amazing to my family all the way through. I had unbelievably high expectations of who he was growing up and he lived up to them so it’s really cool to be a part of this with him.”
He also reminisced about their competitive encounters: “Any chance you get to go up against him, we played the final round in the Masters in 2015, final group in 2018 in the Tour Championship which he won. I feel like I didn’t put up as much of a fight as I should have there so hopefully tonight is a way to get one back.”