Captains Tiger Woods (left) and Rory McIlroy (right) put on a show with their teams and delivered the best match of the TGL yet
TGL’s highly anticipated face-off between 5-time Masters Champion Tiger Woods’ and 4-time Major Championship winner Rory McIlroy’s teams delivered a closely-contested and adrenaline-fuelled match. However, the viewership numbers still struggle to surpass its debut peak. Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club (JLGC) edged out McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf in a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory, marking the closest contest in TGL’s young history.
Played in a high-tech, 1,500-capacity arena at Florida’s SoFi Center, the match brought forth intense gameplay as two of the sport’s biggest names went head-to-head. McIlroy, making his TGL debut, described the match as “exactly what the league needed.” Woods echoed the sentiment, stating, “This is what we had envisioned for TGL, to have an experience like this.”
The game featured thrilling moments, including a 31-foot birdie putt by Boston Common’s Adam Scott – a 14-time PGA TOUR winner – to level the score on the 14th hole. 2025 US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley forced overtime after halving the 15th hole with JLGC’s Tom Kim. In the tiebreaker, Kim and Kevin Kisner secured the win for JLGC in a closest-to-the-pin contest from 40 yards.
Despite the compelling matchup, TV ratings didn’t reach the highs of Woods’ TGL debut. ESPN averaged 864,000 viewers for the event, an improvement over the prior week’s 682,000 but still short of the 1 million mark from Woods’ first appearance. The game peaked at 1.1 million viewers during overtime, reflecting the star power of Woods in a clutch moment.
TGL’s debut broadcast drew 919,000 viewers, while Woods’ first match saw a peak of 1.05 million. With Woods in play, the league averages 932,000 viewers, compared to 800,500 without him.
One promising trend is TGL’s ability to attract a younger audience compared to traditional PGA TOUR broadcasts. McIlroy noted that nearly half of its viewers fall in the 18-49 age bracket, aligning with TGL’s goal of making golf more accessible to a new generation.
Looking ahead, Boston Common will face Los Angeles Golf Club on February 4, featuring a lineup of Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood. Woods’ Jupiter Links will return on February 18, but another rematch between Woods and McIlroy will have to wait for the playoffs in March, should both teams qualify.
