Whether you might be one of many many followers of TGL otherwise you’re reluctant to purchase into the new-age idea of simulator golf in an indoor area, it’s arduous to disclaim that the brand new league saved its greatest for final.
If the TGL had all the things however its prompt traditional second, it bought that Tuesday evening when Billy Horschel – by some means it appeared becoming that it was the hyper-effusive Horschel – holed a twisting downhill putt to win the SoFi Cup for his Atlanta Drive crew.
Perhaps it wasn’t Bryson DeChambeau making par from a fairway bunker to win the U.S. Open nevertheless it was a second that put a scream-and-shout bow on the inaugural season of what felt like a large experiment when it started in January.
“It’s fully exceeded my expectations,” stated Justin Thomas, a member of the championship crew with Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover and Horschel.
TGL was devised to develop boundaries, play off personalities as a lot as efficiency and – all collectively now – develop the sport.
By these measures, the primary season of the tech-driven, team-first, made-for-television creation succeeded.
It’s not for everybody nevertheless it by no means figured to be. What TGL demonstrated was that golf may be totally different, particularly when it embraces innovation with out impeding the foundational idea of true match golf.
The tv rankings recommend the visionaries behind TGL – govt Mike McCarley and two guys named Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – are onto one thing. It was by no means meant to be Sunday afternoon on the Gamers Championship or have the magnetism of the Masters however it’s an entertaining diversion on winter nights because the PGA Tour is gathering its momentum.
The largest query going into this season could not have been how the general public would react to this new shiny factor constructed round gamers hitting photographs into an enormous display screen and taking part in on and round a synthetic inexperienced that modifications form like Viktor Hovland modifications coaches.
“Six months in the past I didn’t know what to anticipate. … However total the entire expertise I feel has simply been actually cool.” – Shane Lowry
It was whether or not the gamers would purchase into one thing so totally different and doubtlessly distracting. They did and it confirmed, even when Tiger’s Jupiter Hyperlinks crew performed like a threesome from the native muni.
“Six months in the past I didn’t know what to anticipate. … However total the entire expertise I feel has simply been actually cool,” Shane Lowry stated.
The expertise was all the time going to be mesmerizing however the success of TGL hinges nearly totally on the gamers exhibiting greater than their talent. Whether or not it’s Horschel being Horschel, Thomas chatting the way in which he does or Tiger in tears laughing after seeing Kevin Kisner cranium a shot, that’s the important magic of TGL.
The competitors started to matter extra when the playoffs started however that by no means felt like the primary cause to look at. The crew factor works for TGL as a result of the whole endeavor is constructed to be a tv present, packaged to suit right into a shortly shifting two-hour window, and many of the holes have three guys taking part in alternate shot which is extra team-like than including up particular person scores.
LIV Golf has tried to pressure the crew idea into relevance nevertheless it hasn’t labored. It may well’t really feel good inside LIV’s places of work to see TGL succeeding the place LIV has not.
“However total I feel all people has actually loved the format. It’s simply been so totally different for us and so new, however all people has bought actually behind it.” – Tommy Fleetwood
Will probably be fascinating to see the place TGL goes from right here. The season is lengthy sufficient and if it may very well be condensed by a few weeks that could be higher even when which means doing extra doubleheaders earlier than the playoffs.
“I’m positive it should proceed to evolve. I’m positive there’s various things that they’ll do with the situations. I’m positive there can be new holes subsequent time most likely,” Tommy Fleetwood stated.
“However total I feel all people has actually loved the format. It’s simply been so totally different for us and so new, however all people has bought actually behind it.”
It has been advised that every crew have a gap or two created to acknowledge its supposed house base. There may very well be holes by means of Central Park or Instances Sq. for New York Golf Membership, one thing alongside the California coast for the Bay Golf Membership and maybe a gap by means of stopped visitors for the Atlanta Drive.
Adjusting the hammer rule midseason was transfer, including extra volatility and prompting extra dialog amongst gamers. It was the plot twist on which the ultimate match swung Tuesday evening.
Retaining the celebs engaged is important and there’s no cause – accidents apart – to suppose that Woods and McIlroy gained’t play subsequent 12 months. Being primarily based in Jupiter, Florida, the place it appears nearly each high participant lives, made it simple for many of the gamers.
It may very well be geography that saved Texas-based Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth out of the primary season. They each have younger households and doubtless didn’t need to make the dedication of going to Florida a handful of instances for TGL but when there was a option to contain them going ahead, it could be a pleasant increase.
Think about listening to Spieth speak his approach by means of a TGL match.
There may be speak of including groups and cities subsequent 12 months. A logical subsequent step can be to carry LPGA gamers into the combination. Perhaps it’s including one feminine to every crew or, even higher, creating an LPGA crew. It could be fascinating to listen to the chatter if it turned a boys towards women competitors.
The most effective issues TGL did was not attempt too arduous. The hassle, ingenuity and funding had been huge however because the season unfolded there was a sense that everybody was alongside for the journey.
TGL needed to be totally different and it was.
All you wanted was to see a grinning Patrick Cantlay carrying a blinged-out Soiled Birds necklace on the trophy presentation Tuesday evening to see simply how totally different.
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