Tiger Woods is determined to play in next month’s Masters despite a humbling return at the TGL Finals.
The 15-time major champion, who underwent back surgery last October and had been sidelined since the 2024 Open, returned to competitive action as his Jupiter Links team fell in the final of the golf league he co-founded with Rory McIlroy.
Woods stepped in for Kevin Kisner in Jupiter Links’ second finals match against Los Angeles Golf Club, which had won the opener on Monday.
The 50-year-old showed glimpses of his old form, hitting several drives beyond 300 yards, but could not stop a 9-2 defeat. Los Angeles, led by England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, clinched the best-of-three series with a match to spare.
“It was fine physically,” Woods said after the match in a press conference broadcast by Sky Sports.
“I had a couple of drives I had to hit and a couple of putts. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it.”
“We got our arse kicked at the end. Three eagles in a row. We did not respond. I missed a short one to kind of get it started and give them momentum, and we never got it back.”
“I am frustrated that we did not get it done. We had opportunities like last night, we should have won that match, and they steam-rolled us at the end.”
On his chances of playing the Masters at Augusta National, which begins April 9, Woods, who has been plagued by back issues in recent years and ruptured his Achilles tendon last spring, added: “I have been trying. This body does not recover like it did when I was 24, 25.
“It does not mean I am not trying. I have been trying for a while. I had a couple of bad injuries last year that I had to fight through, and it has taken some time. I keep trying. I want to play.
“I have loved the tournament. I have loved being there since I was 19, so it has meant a lot to me and my family over the years, and I am going to be there either way.
“We will see how it goes. I will be practicing, playing, and keep trying to make progress.
“It feels good to be back, but I would have liked it under better circumstances. That is the way sport is. You put yourself out there, and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and you deal with it.”
Jupiter Links had gone 2-0 up in the second game of the finals, but Woods missed a three-foot putt on the seventh hole, and Los Angeles seized momentum with three eagles in a row starting on the eighth.
The run culminated when Rose, who lost a playoff to McIlroy at Augusta last year, hit a five-wood to four feet on the par-5 10th, prompting Jupiter Links to concede the hole and the tournament.
“They got off to a good start, fair play, but we were doing nothing tragic to second-guess ourselves,” Rose said.
“You are not always going to go three eagles in a row. That is an insane way to finish, and we even took ourselves by surprise. It finished in a hurry, which was good for us and a shame for everyone else here today.”
