On Tuesday night, the long-awaited TGL finally premiered on ESPN in prime time. The indoor league led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy made its first big appearance and after much has been reported about the format and features of this entertainment product, many were eager to see what the final product would look like.
TGL: Clear victory for Bay GC
On the first day of play, Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg played for the Bay GC against Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Matt Fitzpatrick from the New York GC. In two hours, they competed in a match over 15 holes, with Bay GC as the clear winner: 9 to 2 was the final score.
The players hit their long shots onto a video screen, some from real grass, others from turf, and bunkers filled with real sand from Augusta National Golf Club. Once the teams got to within 45 metres of the pin, it’s on to a short game complex – with a green set on a 37-metre-wide turntable and around 600 pieces of equipment underneath to change the contours. Over the first nine holes, all three players compete at the same time, taking turns to hit the ball. The last six holes are played 1 against 1.
Shane Lowry hit the first tee shot in league history and a few minutes later Ludvig Åberg secured his team’s first birdie and the first hole won. From then on, the Bay Golf Club was unstoppable. With a ‘hammer’, the team immediately secured two points on hole 3 and after six holes they were 6-0 up. That was not to be expected, explained Wyndham Clark afterwards. In a practice match the day before, Schauffele & Co. were already 6-0 up after three holes. But when it counted, they had the system and its tricks down pat.
The ‘hammer’ is one of the special features of the TGL. Each hole is normally worth one point. The team in possession of the hammer can ‘throw’ it and thereby increase the value of a hole in order to gain an advantage or increase the pressure on the opponent. The hammer then becomes the property of the opposing team. If the hammer is thrown before the start of a hole, it is automatically accepted; if it is thrown after the tee shot, the opposing team has the option of rejecting it. In return, however, it automatically loses the hole.
New York GC scored the first point after nine holes, but was ultimately unable to catch up.
The TGL will have to prove itself in the long run
The reactions to the first event show a lot of enthusiasm, but also room for improvement. The players emphasised how much fun they had during the event: ‘It’s a game, it’s not necessarily pure golf, it’s a bit more game and trick,’ said Wyndham Clark after the team victory. ‘I feel like we were very comfortable with it. I have to say we had a lot of fun.’
Paige Spiranac wrote on Twitter, ‘It’s fun to see the boys a little more relaxed! I think we’ll really let their personalities shine in this format,’ and both journalists and players praised the shot clock for keeping the game brisk and the energy high. The fans on site were enthusiastic, cheered the players – and also acknowledged bad shots with boos.
There is still room for improvement. As a TV viewer in particular, you have to be prepared for a lot of background noise between the players’ conversations, commentators, interviews and music from the hall. Michael McEwan (Bunkered) describes the event as ‘entertaining, but largely forgettable’ and James Colgan (Golf.com) is also of the opinion that the TGL still needs to find the ‘balance between flash and substance’.
Tiger Woods, however, seemed satisfied. ‘It was just a dream,’ he said on the ESPN broadcast. ‘Rory and I have talked about it; it’s hard to believe that this dream has become a reality and we’ve been able to take golf into another stratosphere, really.’
