Vanessa Trump and Tiger Woods were pictured sharing a romantic moment before the golf icon got his ‘a** kicked’ on his long-awaited return to action.
Trump was in the crowd at The Golf League in Palm Beach on Tuesday night to watch Woods play for the first time since 2024.
But it proved to be a night to forget for the 15-time major champion as his Jupiter Links GC were comfortably beaten in the finals of the second season of TGL.
Before the action got underway, however, Trump and Woods were spotted exchanging a kiss in front of the crowd that had gathered around the giant simulator.
Trump – the former daughter-in-law of Donald Trump – was in the crowd alongside the president’s teenage granddaughter, Kai. Serena Williams – who co-owns a team with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, their daughter, Olympia, and sister, Venus – was also in the stands.
But in match two of the TGL finals, Jupiter Links was beaten badly by Los Angeles Golf Club at SoFi Center in Florida. Woods, Tom Kim and Max Homa lost 9-2 to Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala and Tommy Fleetwood.
Vanessa Trump and Tiger Woods were pictured sharing a romantic moment on Tuesday night
Trump watched as her boyfriend got his ‘a** kicked’ on his long-awaited return to golf action
The golf legend’s girlfriend and daughter Kai (pictured here on Monday) were in the crowd
‘We got our a** kicked at the end,’ said Woods, who earlier missed one short putt and then failed to hide his frustration.
‘It felt great to be back here with these guys… it was a great team, I’m frustrated that we didn’t get it done.’
He added: ‘It feels good to be back but I’d have liked it to be in better circumstances. But that’s the way sports is – you put yourself out there, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And you deal with it.’
Woods has not played in a PGA Tour event since the 2024 Open Championship. He then underwent yet another back surgery before playing in TGL in early 2025. But Woods’ hopes of a comeback were dashed when he tore his Achilles.
That sidelined the 15-time major champion for the rest of 2025. Woods then had disk replacement surgery in October.
He has teased a return at next month’s Masters at Augusta National and Tuesday’s TGL match represented a huge step forward for the golf legend.
Woods later addressed The Masters. He would not confirm whether or not he will play at Augusta, insisting only: ‘I’ve been trying. It’s just this body doesn’t recover like when I was 24, 25. It doesn’t mean I’m not trying – I’ve been trying for a while.
‘I’ve had a couple of back injuries the past year that I’ve had to fight through and it’s taken some time. But I keep trying.
Serena Williams – who co-owns a team with members of her family – was also in the stands
Woods has still not played in a PGA Tour event since the 2024 Open Championship
‘I want to play, I’ve loved the tournament, I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old. So it’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years and I’m going to be there either way.’
When asked if he will leave it until the days leading up to the first round to decide, Woods added: ‘I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. I’ll be practicing playing at home this week and keep trying to make progress.’
His life off the course has also come under the spotlight in recent months after reports emerged that Vanessa feels ‘insecure’ about their romance.
The golfer and Trump, 48, the ex-wife Donald Trump Jr., went public with their relationship last March, and were recently spotted cozying up to one another at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in greater Los Angeles.
However, reports claim Woods, who split from his ex-wife Elin Nordegren 2010 amid cheating allegations, reportedly feels stifled in his relationship with Trump.
‘She’s insecure when it comes to him and other women,’ a source told the National Enquirer. ‘So Vanessa follows Tiger everywhere and checks up on him and what he’s up to through mutual friends when they’re not together.’
‘Tiger’s feeling henpecked and stifled,’ they added. ‘He wants Vanessa to trust him and not judge him on prior behavior. But the more serious they get, the more fearful she becomes that Tiger will slide into bad habits and self-sabotage.’
Trump has been by Woods’ side at a number of high-profile appearances over the past few months, including the 15-time major winner’s lavish 50th birthday bash in January.
