Golfer Max Homa believes Tiger Woods is widely misunderstood by those who don’t know him.
The two PGA Tour stars have teamed up for TGL – golf’s new indoor simulator league.
Competing for Jupiter Golf Links, Homa gets a rare insight into Woods’ personality in one of professional golf’s few team environments.
Over the years, 15-time major-winner Woods has always been strictly about his business, making little room for sentiment.
That fierce competitiveness has seen him perceived as frosty in the eyes of many.
But Homa insists the 49-year-old icon is a lot warmer than people think.
“I think Tiger’s one of the more misunderstood people,” the world no. 57 told talkSPORT.
“I get it. In person, a lot of people think he’s super stoic and doesn’t have much of a personality.
“But when you think about having a million people a day ask you for something, it makes a lot of sense.
“Because when he’s behind closed doors, I mean, he’s just a guy.
“He’s a fun person to be around, he’s funny, he’s witty. He definitely thinks he’s funnier than he really is.
“But it’s cool to be on his team and get to pick his brain even about golf stuff and then also just talk about regular stuff.”
Given Woods is arguably the greatest golfer ever to play the game, there are few better brains to pick.
There was a time, at the peak of his powers, when players would talk about Woods keeping secrets to himself.
But now, with Woods in the twilight of his career, Homa has been able to learn from the very best.
“I think he’s a bit of a golf dork, he likes talking about golf,” the American added.
“I’ve asked him a lot of stuff about certain golf shots and how he’d hit them and what he feels and stuff like that.
“But also, like I said, we’ve talked about every other thing under the sun.
“So it’s cool. Like I said, he’s just a guy.”
As far as TGL goes, Woods was the architect behind the controversial new project, along with Rory McIlroy and golf executive Mike McCarley.
Some have questioned the move to make simulator golf part of the professional ecosystem – but Homa argues it should be treated as something different.
“There’s a learning curve to it, but it’s fun,” the six-time PGA Tour winner said.
“Standing here thinking about it, it is kind of a blend of video games and outdoor real golf, but it’s fun and it’s different.
“I don’t think it’s meant to be taken as like real professional golf, it’s a version of it.
“My buddy refers to it as a TV show. It’s more like episodes of and it’s competitive, but there’s a learning curve.
“It’s very fun and hopefully very fun for the fans.”
Homa is a cover star for PGA Tour 2K25 – golf’s most popular video game which will be released on February 18.
What is TGL?
Simply put, TGL is an indoor simulator golf league featuring the game’s top players.
It takes place at a super high-tech arena called the SoFi Centre in Florida with a live crowd of around 1,500 people.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were the ones who came up with it, with the help of a guy called Mike McCarley, as part of their TMWR Sports venture.
It’s got a bunch of big-name investors, like Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, and Fenway Sports Group – who own Liverpool. ESPN and Sky Sports signed up to broadcast it.
How do they compete?
There’s six teams of four, all franchises based on US cities, and all featuring top PGA Tour players. No LIV Golfers.
There is one head-to-head match each week lasting just two hours for a primetime TV slot in the States.
There is also a 40-second shot clock and timeouts and referees to enforce the rules. All of the players are mic’d up to ensure maximum entertainment value.
How does it work?
For shots longer than 50 yards, players hit into this enormous screen, which is 53 foot tall and 64 foot wide.
That’s about 24 times the size of your normal golf simulator. They play off real grass, the rough and the fairways are reflected on the surface, and it even moves to reflect the slope.
The green complex has 600 motorised sensors underneath it and 360 degree rotation to simulate the exact real life scenario facing the players.
The bunkers have the same sand as Augusta National, and they’ve even thought about the direction of the grain around the greens.
Format
Each team picks three players, they play 15 holes. The first nine holes are ‘Trebles’ – three-on-three matchplay, with each player taking turns to hit the shots.
The final six holes are ‘Singles’ – one-on-one matchplay with each player playing 2 holes.
If it’s all square after 15, they go to overtime and play closest to the pin.
Teams get two points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and zero points for a regulation loss.
There will be Play-Offs in March with semi-finals and a final to determine the league’s overall winner – with a $21million purse to be divided among players.
Teams
Atlanta Drive GC
• Patrick Cantlay
• Lucas Glover
• Billy Horschel
• Justin Thomas
Boston Common Golf
• Keegan Bradley
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Rory McIlroy
• Adam Scott
The Bay Golf Club
• Ludvig Aberg
• Wyndham Clark
• Shane Lowry
• Min Woo Lee
Jupiter Links Golf Club
• Max Homa
• Tom Kim
• Kevin Kisner
• Tiger Woods
Los Angeles Golf Club
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Collin Morikawa
• Justin Rose
• Sahith Theegala
New York Golf Club
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Rickie Fowler
• Xander Schauffele
• Cameron Young