Matthew Tkachuk’s Hockey Gold Approved As “Cool” By Golf Legend Tiger Woods

In the TMRW Golf League, Tiger Woods, one of the pioneers of the format, plays for the Jupiter Links GC who have made the finals for the first time.

Matthew Tkachuk’s Hockey Gold Approved As “Cool” By Golf Legend Tiger Woods

Matthew Tkachuk, Tiger Woods (Images via Operation Sports/The US Sun; Screengrab via @SportsCenter on X)

In Short
  • Tiger Woods expressed excitement meeting Matthew Tkachuk and seeing his Olympic gold medal.
  • Tkachuk shared that Justin Rose and Tom Kim also tried on the gold medal during the event.
  • The Milano Cortina gold medals are slightly heavier than those awarded at the Rio Games.

In his long and illustrious career, Tiger Woods has seen it all, the highs and the lows of the game. Woods, 50, has fifteen major championships to his name, but the Olympic gold has eluded his shining silverware cabinet.

For an athlete, standing atop the podium wearing their country’s flag is one of the defining moments of their career. Woods hasn’t gotten that moment, and meeting someone who’s done it, he had the visceral excitement bouncing off him.

Amid the TGL Finals, the 2026 Milano Cortina men’s ice hockey champion, and Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, made a visit to the SoFi Center in Palm Gardens, along with the gold medal he won in the Italian town. The Panthers’ player hung out with the Jupiter Links GC and Los Angeles GC players on Monday ahead of their first game in the three-match series.

Afterwards, Tkachuk opened up on his interaction with Woods, where he revealed that the latter found his achievement very cool. He added that he “obviously thought it was really cool meeting him and honestly just shooting the (bull). We were just hanging out and talking about it.“

The 15-time champion was not the only one admiring the three-inch gold piece. The Jupiter Links GC golfer, Tom Kim, tried the gold medal on. The 2016 Rio golf winner Justin Rose, who’s one of the very few golfers to have won both an Olympic gold and a major championship, also tried on Tkachuk’s medal.

Tkachuk later said that the 45-year-old South African-British found some major differences between his and the hockey player’s golds.

He was like, ‘Wow, it’s a lot different than mine,’ We really just talked about how life changed since and how it changed for him and kind of the room of people that puts you in with very few gold medal winners in your sport.

Rose was right, too; the gold medals awarded at the Milano Cortina Games last month are slightly heavier than the ones the athletes were given in Rio de Janeiro.

Tiger Woods announces return amid rivals, Los Angeles GC taking the first win in TGL Finals

Tiger Woods, who’s also one of the pioneers of this version of the game, has announced that he will take the field for the first time since the PNC Championship in Orlando in 2024 in the second game of the TGL finals against the Los Angeles GC. The Jupiter Links GC, led and mentored by Woods, lost the first game of the three-game series in a nail-biting, neck-and-neck finale.

Justin Rose, 45, of Los Angeles GC, in action against the Jupiter Golf Links in Game 1 of the TGL Finals (Image via the Official Website of TGL Golf)
Justin Rose, 45, of Los Angeles GC, in action against the Jupiter Golf Links in Game 1 of the TGL Finals (Image via the Official Website of TGL Golf)

The Los Angeles GC, featuring Justin Rose, 2024 Paris Summer Olympics medallist Tommy Fleetwood, and Sahith Theegala. They overturned a deficit heading into the final hole with a hammer throw as Theegala beat Kevin Kisner of the Jupiter Links in singles.

The next game is crucial, do-or-die for Jupiter Links, who will need to win both this game and the next game to win the coveted SoFi Cup. Game 3 will only be played if necessary.

As the curtain is set to drop on the TGL season two, all but the fact that there will be a new color shimmering on that trophy is left for play. In Game 2, Woods will replace Kisner, and Tom Kim and Max Homa will complete the lineup.

In the tournament competed by six different clubs, Jupiter Links clinched the playoff spot as the fourth-best team. In the semi-finals, the Jupiter Links GC defeated Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf, who led the league in regular season with eight points.

Meanwhile, the LAGC defeated the Atlanta Drive GC to punch its ticket to the finals of TGL season two. They were the regular-season leaders in season one before losing to the eventual runners-up in the semifinals.

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