Tiger Woods Has 'Most Embarrassing Moment' of His Golfing Career During TGL Match

Tiger Woods and his team were off their game at a recent TGL match, culminating with an “embarrassing” mistake for Woods that prompted his Jupiter Links teammates to fall to the ground laughing.

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Woods had 199 yards to the hole and asked his friend Rob McNamara to confirm the yardage, according to the TGL official site. McNamara verified it was 99, dropping the “1” as is custom in golf to indicate 199 yards. 

Woods misunderstood, hitting wedge, a solid shot that was 100 yards short of the flag, according to the site. As the golf pro’s teammates, Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim, fell over laughing, Woods walked over in confusion. 

“You said ‘99 yards,’ ” Woods, 49, told the group at the SoFi arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl. When the golfers confirmed it was actually 199 yards, Woods smiled wryly. 

“One of the most embarrassing moments of my golf career just happened,” said Woods on the ESPN telecast, according to CBS Sports.

“I just screwed up,” he added, according to the outlet. “That was embarrassing.”

The match was Woods’ first competitive appearance since his mother died on Feb. 4.

“It’s been a tough process to go through,” said Woods of grieving his mom during an appearance at the 2025 Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16, according to CNN. “But I’ve had amazing family support, all the players playing here have reached out. The amount of texts, emails and nice messages of support I’ve got has really helped and has really meant a lot to me."

“Mom would take me to every junior event here in Southern California," he added. "She would drive out there and keep score, walk every hole and how many putts I hit, how many fairways I hit, how many greens I hit. She tracked it all. Losing her has been a very hard and difficult process to go through.”

There was no comeback for Woods’ team at the TGL match. New York Golf Club beat Jupiter Links Golf Club, 10-3. 

“I feel like we did play really well tonight,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, one of the golfers on the winning team, according to TGL. (The top four teams will make the finals, with the semi-finals beginning on March 17.) “Just [want to] do a bit more of that next Monday and hopefully jump up a couple more spots.”

TGL, which stands for Tomorrow’s Golf League, was co-founded by Woods and fellow golfing pro Rory McIlroy. Housed in a custom-built arena, the league uses technology to create an interactive experience for attendees, according to ESPN. 

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The high-tech space didn’t help Woods’ game that night. Even the official PGA Tour had to make fun of the famous athlete.

“Tough mixup for Tiger and @JupiterLinksGC,” reads a PGA Tour Instagram post from that night. 

Jupiter Links is set to compete against The Bay Golf Club, which remains undefeated, on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. ET.