Tiger Woods made his TGL debut Tuesday with his son and his mother in attendance at SoFi Center. He received an intro that was incredibly fitting for the biggest star in the sport.
Woods, who is a driving force in TGL’s creation along with Rory McIlroy and TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley, saw eight years of behind-the-scenes work culminate last week when the TGL debuted on ESPN in a matchup between The Bay Golf Club and New York Golf Club.
The initial results from the debut were overwhelmingly positive from a viewership perspective, with an average of 919,000 people tuning into the inaugural match. This outpaces recent editions of The Match and The Showdown on TNT.
This week, Woods finally got his chance to compete alongside Jupiter Links Golf Club teammates Max Homa and Kevin Kisner in their match against Los Angeles Golf Club, led by Colin Morikawa.
Every golfer got an introduction as they walked out to begin the match of tech-infused golf. But Tiger Woods got some well-deserved special treatment, walking out to the song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.
Tiger’s TGL entrance is electric ⚡️🐅
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/orQ9xwAzt9
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 15, 2025
The “Eye of the Tiger” song choice works for obvious reasons but also on a deeper level when you consider Woods’ recent track record. The five-time Masters champion still deals with the lasting effects of a 2021 car crash that has made playing regularly on the PGA Tour very difficult for him. The TGL presents him with the opportunity to play golf on a national stage in a much less taxing manner.
Naturally, sports media personalities and fellow golfers who tuned in to see Woods’ entrance took to social media to express how much they loved the moment.
Fantastic pick by Tiger for the walkout song! Only thing that could’ve been comparable, the intro song for the Chicago Bulls🙊 pic.twitter.com/VlH7Zt0jZh
— Justin Kutcher (@JustinKutcher) January 15, 2025
This hits hard https://t.co/SZBusTovdV
— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) January 15, 2025
Unfortunately for Woods, his entrance was the highlight of the night for Jupiter Links Golf Club. They would go on to lose in lopsided fashion in a match filled with lowlights, including Woods airmailing one of his shots into the water on the simulator.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.