March 24 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods' return to competitive golf was a disappointing one as his Jupiter Links Golf Club was crushed 9-2 by the Los Angeles Golf Club in the TGL Finals in Florida on Tuesday, but his mere appearance gave fans hope he may tee it up at next month's Masters.
The 50-year-old Woods, who has undergone multiple surgeries in recent years and had not competed on the PGA Tour since missing the British Open cut in 2024, said he was pleased to be back in action at the indoor golf league, which combines elements of simulated golf with real chipping and putting.
"It felt great to be back with these guys. This was our team from last year and we have so much fun," Woods said while standing alongside teammates Max Homa and Tom Kim.
Playing without Woods, Jupiter Links lost their opening match of the best-of-three finals on Monday and after taking an early 2-0 lead in Tuesday's do-or-die second match, conceded the championship after Los Angeles reeled off three consecutive eagles.
"I am frustrated we didn't get it done. We had opportunities," Woods said.
"Last night, we should have won that match and they took advantage of it and steamrolled us at the end tonight.
"So yeah, it feels good to be back but I would have liked to be back under better circumstances. But that's the way sports is: you put yourself out there and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and you deal with it."
Woods co-founded the tech-infused TGL with Rory McIlroy last year.
MASTERS PROSPECTS
It has been a long, stop-start path back to golf for the all-time great from California, who ruptured his left Achilles last March, then had lumbar disk replacement surgery last October.
Woods, whose 15 major titles include five Green Jackets, said his goal is to compete at the Masters, which begins April 9 in Augusta.
"I've been trying," Woods said when asked about his Masters prospects at a press conference.
"It’s just that this body doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. Doesn’t mean I’m not trying," he said.
"I’ve been trying for a while. I've had a couple bad injuries here over the past year that I've had to fight through and it's taken some time.
"But I keep trying. I want to play. I love the tournament, I've loved it since I was 19 years old. So it has meant a lot to me and my family over the years, and I'm going to be there either way."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
