Tiger Woods’ TGL comeback ended in defeat as Los Angeles Golf Club thrashed Jupiter Links GC 9-2 to wrap-up the season-long SoFi Cup title with a match to spare.
Woods' appearance was his first in the TGL for over a year, having torn his Achilles last spring, undergone disk replacement surgery in October and held a non-playing role for Jupiter Links throughout the 2026 season.
The 50-year-old replaced Kevin Kisner to join Tom Kim and Max Homa in the Jupiter Links line-up for their must-win game at the SoFi Center, having watched .
Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala featured for an unchanged Los Angeles, who needed just 10 holes of their 15-hole contest to complete a one-sided victory and deny Jupiter Links taking the contest to a series decider.
Los Angeles recovered from being 2-0 down early in the contest to win five consecutive holes from the sixth and nine points in the process, closing out victory to claim the $9million (£6.7m) team first prize.
"We got our a** kicked in the end," Woods said on TV coverage. "Three eagles in a row and we didn't respond. I missed a short one at the beginning to get it started, give them momentum, and we never got it back."
The former world No 1 warned pre-match that he expected to be 'rusty' after a 'very long year of rehabbing', although Woods' first full swing saw his 272-yard three-wood set up a winning birdie for Jupiter Links at the par-five second.
He missed the green with his wedge into the short par-three third, where both teams made par, before lagging his 45-foot eagle putt at the par-five fourth to within two feet to secure a birdie that gave his side a 2-0 lead.
Woods hit a 318-yard stinger off the sixth tee, where Los Angeles levelled the match after throwing the Hammer - doubling the value of the hole - after Rose fired his approach close and Homa then made birdie.
Los Angeles moved ahead when Woods missed a four-foot putt for par at the seventh, while Woods' bunker shot to close range at the eighth was not enough after Fleetwood rolled in a 10-foot birdie.
Woods found the fairway with his tee shot at the par-five ninth but saw Los Angeles have the Hammer accepted again, with Rose's approach from the fairway bunker giving Theegala a 15-foot eagle to extend their advantage to 6-2 heading into singles.
Both teams threw Hammers at the par-five 10th to make the hole worth three points, with Rose firing his approach to within five feet and having his eagle putt conceded - securing the match - when Homa missed his for birdie.
"I'm frustrated that we didn't get it done - we had opportunities" Woods added. "Last night we should've won that match and they [Los Angeles] took advantage of it, then they steamrolled us at the end tonight.
"It feels good to be back but I would like to have been back in better circumstances!"
Woods hasn't played a competitive round of golf on the PGA Tour since missing the cut at The Open in July 2024, although said last month that a return at The Masters - live from April 9-12 on Your Site - was 'not off the table'.
The five-time Masters champion has continued to work on a possible comeback, despite only completing a full 72-hole tournament four times in the past five years after several injury setbacks.
"It [the body] doesn't recover like it did when it was 24, 25," Woods said in his post-match press conference. "It doesn't mean I'm not trying [to return]. I've been trying for a while. I've had a couple bad injuries here over the past years that I've had to fight through and it's taken some time.
"I keep trying. I want to play. I love the tournament. I've loved being there since I was 19 years old. It's meant a lot to me and my family over the years. I'm going to be there either way with The Loop that's going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner."
On whether Woods would make a decision ahead of Masters week, he added: "I don't know, we'll see how it goes. I'll be practicing, playing at home this week and keep trying to make progress."
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