“I just wanted to ask you. Have you ever had two hole-in-ones in a single round,” asked 11-year-old Holden Bautista smugly. Tiger Woods, host of the TGR Jr. Invitational, sitting on the hot seat, was stumped. The tongue-in-cheek question was acknowledged with a shake of his head and a grin, before Tiger went on to acknowledge, again, the magnitude of young Bautista’s achievement.
On the second day of the three-day junior event the young Bautista holed not one, but two aces, including one in front of a packed gallery that included TW. In a video shared on TaylorMade’s official X account, Woods was the first to effusively congratulate the budding golfer. Later, Woods, presented Bautista with two pins to commemorate the occasion. Whether or not Bautista ends choosing golf as a vocation as an adult, the youngster will have one heck of a story to tell, one that’s unlikely to be repeated. It’s much more likely that this singular event might inspire Bautista that golf is precisely where his talent lies. No one’s going to argue with that. The golfing world, however was more excited about seeing TW swing a club: the first time he’s been seen doing that since he withdrew from the Masters Tournament in April this year. He also, reportedly, played a few holes with his son, 14-year-old Charlie Woods at The Hay—a course that Woods redesigned a couple of years back. Will we see Woods back in action at the 2023 Hero World Challenge that’s slated to take place in December 2023 at Albany, Bahamas. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, off the golf course, Woods’ golfing endeavours have not taken a break. He’s partnered with Rory McIlroy to set up a brand new golf tourney—the Tiger Golf League. TGL has picked up a great deal of momentum this month with a bunch of top players signing up for the limited field series.Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Kim, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry joined the ranks of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods,, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose,, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Billy Horschel. More players are expected to be announced.
Not surprisingly Disney’s ESPN has snapped up broadcast rights in the US. Launching in January 2024, the TGL will feature team matchups throughout the year culminating with a la playoffs style finale. The six teams, each comprising of three players each will play a series of round-robin matches leading up to semis and finals by the end of the year. The matches are programmed for television and will last no longer than two hours each. Woods has never been one to shy from technology—his video game franchise remains the most popular golf game ever made—and the league will embrace a funky simulator-style format.
The main arena for the league—the SoFi Centre—is still under construction and will feature a massive simulator screen. Players will play full-swing shots into the screen for woods and most irons, and turn to a short game area to chip and putt. Fans have wasted no time in pointing out that the two players who supported the PGA Tour the most in its fight against the LIV Golf league, and presumably felt most let down by the PGA Tour’s volte face to merge with the Saudi-backed league, have come together to launch their own tourney. And unlike LIV Golf, TGL has had absolutely no issues in selling broadcast rights. Its not all about the golf though. Woods has also tied up with music pop icon Justin Timberlake—who also happens to be a scratch golfer—to open up TSquared—a sports and entertainment gastro pub in Scotland.
And yes, its precisely where you’d think—walking distance from the old course in St. Andrews. The Old course has been in the news too. The Home of Golf played host to the final round of the truncated 54-hole Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The event was won by none other than Matt Fitzpatrick who turned in a card of six-under 66 on the final day to total 19-under par. Close on the Englishman’s heels was defending champion Ryan Fox whose campaign was derailed by a bogey on the penultimate hole of the tournament. The highlight for Fitzpatrick, however, was winning the pro-am with his mother Susan. The English player posed with his mater at the famous Swilcan Bridge before making birdie from ten feet on the 18th hole for what is his second European Tour victory in two years. “I couldn’t ask for a better week,” said Fitzpatrick, who shot 67 at Carnoustie on Thursday and 64 at Kingsbarns on Friday.
“Aside from the weather, it really was a perfect week. Even with all my wins, aside from a major, you forget about them in the future, and you’ll always remember the one that you won with your mum.” It’s not easy to be an English golfer and be popular in Scotland. Fitzpatrick is precisely that rare player: unassuming, polite to a fault, and self-deprecating, the US Open Champion put on quite a show at the Ryder Cup: his camaraderie with Irishman Shane Lowry, and mentorship of the young Scot Robert MacIntyre wasn’t lost on the viewers. We’ll be hearing a lot more of him in the future.
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game