PALM BEACH GARDENS — It probably takes a lot to impress Tiger Woods with an athletic feat, but it appeared Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk did just that before the start of the TGL Finals at SoFi Center.
Tkachuk was hanging with golfers from Woods’ Jupiter Links and the Los Angeles Golf Club during warmups before the March 23 opening match of the best-of-3 final series, and hanging around his neck was the gold medal he won as a member of the U.S. hockey team at the Milano Olympics in February.
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Among those admiring the 3-inch piece of gold was the 15-time major champion.
“He thought it was pretty cool,” Tkachuk said. “I obviously thought it was really cool meeting him and honestly just shooting the (bull). We were just hanging out and talking about it.”
Woods then impressed the two-time Stanley Cup Champion when Tkachuk learned the Jupiter Island resident is a co-founder of TGL.
“I knew he was a big part of it, but I didn’t know he like invented the idea,” Tkachuk said.
Tom Kim tries on Florida Panthers Matthew Tkachuk’s , left, Olympic gold medal next to Tiger Woods of Jupiter Links GC against Los Angeles Golf Club before theTGL finals at SoFi Center on March 23, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
After visiting with Jupiter, at which time Tom Kim actually put the medal around his neck, Tkachuk then met the only man in the Finals who knows what it’s like to stand on the gold medal stand.
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Justin Rose has gold medal from 2016 Summer Olympics golf
LA’s Justin Rose won the golf gold medal at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. Rose tried on Tkachuk’s medal.
“He was like, ‘Wow, it’s a lot different than mine,’ ” Tkachuk said. “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.”
Tkachuk then got a picture with Rose.
Florida Panthers Matthew Tkachuk shows off his Olympic gold medal with Justin Rose of Los Angeles Golf Club before theTGL finals at SoFi Center on March 23, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“Coming here, that was my main thing,” he said.
Tkachuk was asked for the difference between winning a Gold Medal and two Stanley Cups.
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“Physically what you do to your body to win the Stanley Cup is nothing like it,” he said. “It’s the hardest trophy to win ever. But I will say the Olympic Gold has really changed our lives nationwide. And we had people supporting us from Florida to Hawaii, California. I mean, the messages we got, the support we got, it was really a life-changing few weeks.”
Tkachuk did not get to hit any golf shots into the 64 x 53-foot simulator screen at SoFi Center. But he said he would like to one day.
“I would need a few Ultras, some beers in me first before I did that,” he said.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Matthew Tkachuk shows off gold medal to Tiger Woods at TGL Finals
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