Justin Thomas reacts to Tiger Woods being ‘thrown out’ in TGL debut

PGA Tour veteran and two-time major champion Justin Thomas is in Southern California for this week’s American Express. Before the start of the tournament, Thomas spoke to the media and addressed various topics. He was asked about his thoughts on the three-course setup at The American Express and his goals for the 2025 PGA Tour season. But that was his response to watching TGL and, specifically, Tiger Woods‘s debut that made the press room spin with laughter.

Thomas and his Atlanta Drive GC team will play the New York Golf Club in the third installment of the TGL next week. The NIGC got its teeth during the TGL debut two weeks ago. So Thomas was asked if he learned anything during the first two weeks of the new, virtual golf league.

“There are definitely some things I’ve learned. I won’t share them until we play, for sure. “No, I was pleasantly surprised,” Thomas said. “I think we all went into this like I don’t know what it’s going to be like, this is totally different… The sweetest thing for me is and I mean, I’m sure (you) can relate to this, but I just, I can never, no I can remember a time when I saw six golfers having so much fun.”

Then Thomas dropped a comic bomb on Woods.

“When was the last time you saw a Tiger get smashed like that and smile that much?” I mean, obviously, that wouldn’t have happened if he played this week, but there’s something to be said for that, right?

indeed, Tiger Woods, Kevin Kisner and Mack Homa were choked Tuesday evening, 12-1. Los Angeles Golf Club with Colin Morikawa, Justin Rose and Sahita Tigal jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Still, as Thomas said, the competitive edge of Woods and everyone else is a little different.

“I understand it’s competitive, and we’re competitive and we all want to win, but at the same time it’s like it’s different. It’s a golf league simulator, like this, it’s not the most realistic thing in the world. But I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed how much fun those guys were having.”

The TGL is already experiencing some level of ratings success. They earned about 1 million viewers each of the first two weeks, and Tiger’s debut was the highest for any sporting event on cable television. Whether he can sustain that momentum remains to be seen.