Watched by tennis legend Serena Williams, who co-owns the LA team, England’s Justin Rose and his American team-mates, Sahith Theegala and former Open champion Collin Morikawa, raced into a 5-0 lead after four holes.
The hammer was barely used in the opening week, but Woods threw it down before the first ball had been struck on Tuesday evening and, while the opening hole was halved, LA, who won the second hole, secured double points on holes three and four.
Rose poured in a 10-footer to win the third, while a Woods miss from seven feet on the next handed LA two more points.
Rose was again on target from six feet on the sixth, holing his putt amid a cacophony of good-natured boos from a crowd desperate to see the home team chalk up a first point.
“I’m digging it, I’m loving it,” said Rose after nailing a 12-footer to win the eighth, and LA were 8-1 ahead and cantering after picking up another hammer-inspired two-pointer on the ninth.
Theegala was similarly impressed after noticing his ball speed of 184mph among the on-screen stats after his tee shot on the ninth. “I’ve never hit that in a tournament,” he said, although the expected insight from having players wear microphones has mainly been limited to laughs and trying to put off the opposition.
In an effort to keep the entertainment value high, Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’ blared out while former Olympic champion Rose hit a shot. Spotlights frequently scudded around the arena.
Rose took on Woods in the singles but the sporting contest already felt over. Woods, who barely played last year, looked out of touch, particularly on the greens. He three-putted the 10th after hitting a 35ft putt 14ft past the hole.
And Kisner, who was wayward off the tees, said “how did I make six?” before conceding the 11th to Morikawa as Jupiter went 9-1 down.
Morikawa executed an excellent flop shot off the artificial grass, and Rose tried to slam dunk a chip shot straight into the hole from close range as LA showcased their golfing skills, while, with the match lost, Kisner and Homa discussed if they could get relegated for being the worst TGL team.
Kisner then provided the late belly laughs with a high-handicapper mishit out of a bunker on the 14th that crashed into the flagstick and flew across the other side of the green, leading to players and fans ducking for cover. It was bordering on farcical before he almost holed the 50ft return shot.
“We honestly didn’t think that anyone could get hit in here,” Woods said. “That was honestly one of the funniest things I’ve seen. And then the chip shot, the next one, should have gone in. It was just one of those weird nights.”
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