“That was one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen. I can’t believe that just happened,” said Tiger Woods after Jupiter Links fell to a 10-3 loss to New York Golf Club in the TGL on Tuesday night.
But Woods wasn’t talking about the defeat, embarrassing as it was, he was talking about the breakdown in communication that saw him come up approximately 100 yards short with a 56-degree-wedge to the 13th hole in singles against Cameron Young.
“You said 99 yards!” 😅
Tough mixup for Tiger and @JupiterLinksGC.
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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2025
To be fair to the 15-time major champion, he was initially told that he had 99 yards to the flag by the Jupiter Links screen tech, then Kevin Kisner doubled down on it when Tiger asked again just before addressing the ball. Even in simulator golf, the 99 yards didn’t look right to him….
Quite why Americans feel the need to drop the ‘one’ from a yardage total has not just always been beyond me, it galls every time I hear it. It takes a tenth of a second longer to say “199” than it takes to say “99”, so this calamitous mix up was music to my ears. In the unlikely event – yeah, I’m finally ready to admit it – that I ever play professional golf and my caddie drops the one from a yardage, he (or she – I’ll be an equal opportunities employer) will be fired on the spot.
Anyway, fortunately for Tiger’s screen tech, it made no difference to the outcome of the match as Jupiter Links were already out for the count by that stage. Tiger, at least, has an excuse. Apart from playing with Donald Trump on Super Bowl Sunday, Woods hadn’t touched a golf club since the passing of his mother just over two weeks ago, but Tom Kim’s young, broad shoulders weren’t strong enough to carry the weight of Woods AND Kisner, and this lead to another TGL mis-match.
After all three matches went to the wire during the Presidents Day triple-header, this was a stark reminder that, without the drama that close contests naturally produce, it’s a tough spectacle to watch.
That arguably the greatest player of all time coming up 100 yards short on a par-4 was the highlight of the night speaks volumes.
At least Kim and Kisner had the decency not to call timeout when they realised that Tiger was going to come up miles short unless he hit the blade of all blades. It would’ve saved Woods from the embarrassment but removed the one bit of genuine entertainment in the process.
So I guess we should be thankful for that.
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