TIGER’S TEAM IN WOEFUL LOSS

FLORIDA. — “I’m not sure we’ll break 100 shots” was Tiger Woods’ verdict of his team’s woeful display on his Tomorrow’s Golf League debut in Florida.

Two hours earlier the 15-time major champion bounded into the purpose-built arena – to the sound of the Survivor classic Eye of the Tiger – with a huge grin on his face, declaring he was there to “have fun”.

Despite his Jupiter Links team suffering a 12-1 defeat by Los Angeles, he said he was “still hurting from laughing so hard”.

There were certainly more farcical scenes at the Sofi Centre than in the opening week, with Woods, Max Homa and Kevin Kisner bordering on being the class clowns, frequently forgetting their score and hitting careless shots.

But then, that’s perhaps part of the charm. This is, after all, a made-for-TV entertainment show that Woods says is designed to “showcase golf and grow the game”.

“We hit six penalty areas, I had two shots out of a bunker and Kis nearly killed someone,” said Woods of his team’s efforts over the 15 holes.

Woods’ 15-year-old son Charlie was among the 1,500 or so fans in the surrounding the football pitch-size playing arena and, according to Homa, the teenager’s succinct summation was “we’re not very good”.

TGL is a technology-led indoor golf league developed by Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Six teams will compete against each other in a round-robin format over the coming weeks, leading to semi-finals and a best-of-three final in late March.

Each week two teams of three players compete against each other over 15 holes.

The opening nine holes feature all three players on each team hitting alternate shots. Tee shots are thudded into a 60ft high simulator screen from a distance of 35 yards, with the action switching to the real life short-game complex once the ball is within 50 yards of the hole. After each hole the short-game area is rotated and a new green is created by the 600 motors below its surface.

The final six holes are played head-to-head with each player playing two holes.

The scoring is simple. Win a hole, win a point. The team with the most points after 15 holes wins two points in the league. A closest-to-the pin play-off will decide the winner in tied matches.

There is also the tactical ‘hammer’, which can be used by the side in possession to double the points on offer on a hole should they win it. — BBC Sport.