TGL: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's indoor golf league starts in Florida
2025-01-08
Category: sports

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have both been predictably bullish about the impact their new technology-led indoor golf venture will have on the sport.On the eve of Tuesday's inaugural Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL) match, McIlroy said this is "golf, reimagined" and that they are "trying to take golf into the 21st Century". During the opening night of the six-team league event, which will take place in Florida each week until a winner is crowned in March, Woods confidently stated they are "taking golf into another stratosphere".Whether that was achieved on day one is a moot point but Woods' follow-up that this is "not traditional golf" was bang on the mark.This was virtual golf fused with real action. There were fantasy holes featuring lava fields and cliff-top island fairways. There was a rotating green that was moved after each hole. There was an attempt at Ryder Cup rivalry. Poor shots were greeted by pantomime boos from the 1,500 or so spectators in the purpose-built Sofi Center. And 15 holes were played in around two hours. Fantasy golf. Made for TV.Here are five takeaways from the opening night:
'We're the guinea pigs'
The first match featured the New York Golf Club taking on The Bay Golf Club and it was quickly evident that TGL isn't taking itself too seriously.The event opened with boxing-style elongated vowels of Rickieeeeeeee Fowler and Shaaaaaaaaane Lowry as the six players were introduced.Ireland's Lowry, the 2019 Open champion who was hitting the first shot for San Francisco-based Bay, had earlier written on social media, "Imagine if I miss the 60-foot screen". But the nerves were real because he forgot his tee peg and then removed his ear-piece before striking the ball."We're the guinea pigs," quipped Fowler before he too smashed his ball into the enormous screen that is 24 times bigger than a standard golf simulator.The players were all wearing microphones and while some were clearly more at ease than others, it did bring the viewer closer to the action. The speed of play was too quick for much banter but the discussions around shots and lining up putts was interesting.Matt Fitzpatrick, playing for New York, said "sorry about that" in a very English manner after his miscued second to the first green cost his team the hole. His American team-mate Xander Schauffele - the double major winner from 2024 - had a smile on his face as he shot back: "I'm not going to apologise for anything." 
Shot clock works but winning moment missed
The biggest success of the opening session was the 40-second shot clock that helped keep the pace of the match high. Rarely did the players let it drop under 15 seconds. If they did, a heartbeat sound that quickened as the timer edged closer to zero echoed around the arena.And while play actually felt unnecessarily rushed at times, nobody fell foul of the penalty stroke for allowing the clock to expire.The opening nine holes of the 15-hole match featured all three players on each team hitting alternate shots. Tee shots were thudded into the big screen from a distance of 35 yards with the action switching to the short-game complex once the ball was within 50 yards of the hole. After each hole, the short-game area was rotated and a new green created by the 600 motors below its surface.The scoring is simple. Win a hole, win a point. The New York smiles had largely disappeared by the sixth hole as The Bay raced into a 6-0 lead in the alternate shot triples.New York finally got on the scoreboard when the previously misfiring Fitzpatrick knocked a 70ft chip to gimme range on the ninth.The final six holes were played as head-to-head singles, with each pairing contesting two holes. Fowler took on Lowry, Fitzpatrick faced Wyndham Clark and Schauffele played Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, with the commentator's attempt to stoke a Ryder Cup rivalry falling flat.The match was over as a contest after the 10th hole. Lowry beat Fowler to put The Bay 7-1 ahead with four to play, but Clark seemed oblivious until told by his playing partners. The remaining holes were played though, given winning holes count in the event of a tie in the league."I'm going to be the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf," laughed Lowry, who seemed the player most at ease. Karma caught up with him on the 13th as he mis-hit a bunker shot. "A bit like me, a bit chunky," he laughed.
Did the result matter?
Lowry's error handed New York a second point but by then Bay had reached nine.They were gifted the 12th hole by Schauffele who had attempted to chip over a hump on the green but only succeeded in knocking his ball off the putting surface.A chorus of pantomime boos greeted the shot. "I'd boo me too," laughed The Open champion before he hurried and subsequently duffed the return. It felt a little like his heart wasn't in the game at that point.When asked earlier how the team chat had gone at the mid-session break between the triples and singles with his side trailing 6-1, Schauffele replied: "It was a pretty short conversation, not a lot to talk about." The final scoreline was 9-2 so The Bay picked up two points for the win. In the event of a tie, a nearest-the-pin play-off will determine the winner, with the loser picking up a point.And every point counts with a $21m (Â£16.9m) purse up for grabs. The winners take home $9m split equally between the team's four players. And there's a shiny trophy too.There are six teams in the league which will run every week until March with the top four reaching the semi-finals and a best-of-three final to follow. Woods' Jupiter Golf Club plays New York next week, while the anticapted match against McIlroy's Boston Common takes place on 27 January.England pair Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood are in a Los Angeles team, while Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay are Atlanta Drive's star names.A total of 24 PGA Tour players are split between the six teams, with their appearances scheduled around their regular season commitments.And despite the sizeable prize purse, the potential rewards on tour far outweigh this made-for-TV offering.
Tiger still the big cat
Despite not playing this week, Woods was still front and centre of coverage. He talked of being "excited" about TGL being "a dream come true" and there being a "great atmosphere" in the stadium, with the spectators surrounding the roughly 100 by 50 yard playing area.And while he would not reveal which three of the four members of his Jupiter team would be playing next week, he did concede that playing this kind of golf was a little easier for him given his injury issues."It's a little harder to play a full-time schedule," said the former world number one who looks set to be stuck on 15 major wins, three shy of Jack Nicklaus' record mark of 18.The 49-year-old played all four majors in 2024 but missed the cut at three after finishing 60th at the Masters. And he then underwent the latest in a long line of operations on his back in September.Indoor golf, where the longest walk is from the tee box to the short-game area, may well prove to be perfect for him. And there is no doubt that a TGL with Tiger playing will attract a bigger TV audience.
Why no women or wind?
Mollie Marcoux Samaan, former commissioner of the LPGA, said in November that she had been in talks with TGL about getting some of her players in the set-up but as of yet no announcement has been made.Given the idea of TGL is to grow the game and engage with new fans, it would seem a no-brainer for future seasons.TGL is also keen to play up the team element of their competition, in a similar vein to LIV Golf. So it felt a little odd to see all the players wearing different tops and caps emblazoned with their own sponsors.Adverts pointed fans towards team merchandise but Fitzpatrick, Fowler and Schauffele were all wearing regular tops of varying shades of dark blue, while Lowry, Aberg and Clark were all in mint green T-shirts.And finally, could an element of the outdoors be brought inside? The fairways and greens were a little too receptive but that should be easy to adjust. Computer golf versions regularly have wind as a feature of play. Could that also be incorporated into the shots hit into the simulator to add a little more jeopardy?Architects have created 30 holes to choose from but despite the lava and the islands, the 15 on show were a little like playing target golf for the pros.