Tiger Woods’ TGL debut showed the league’s potential, but also its shortcomings.
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Tiger Woods’ TGL debut on Tuesday night just kept on showing golf simulator league great potential.
It’s fun, loose and fun at first. Tiger Woods came up on Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger through a cloud of smoke. There was Justin Rose, more in his element than first assumed, throwing up the “LA” hand sign and apologizing to Los Angeles GC co-owner Serena Williams for a poor shot. Max Homa provided the comic relief, which included a great exchange with teammate Woods midway through LA’s 12-1 win over Jupiter Links.
“My wife is probably so embarrassed right now,” said Homa.
“My mom is yelling at me, she’s cussing at me,” Woods replied with a laugh.
Then it was THE moment of the match, which came when Jupiter Links third baseman Kevin Kisner hit a bunker that crashed off the flag stick and drew an epic reaction from Woods.
These were the main points. But it was clear that TGL went backwards on the second night. All startups have growing pains. This is a new idea that deserves space to adapt and find its identity.
But the two biggest issues facing TGL — both of which surfaced during Woods’ debut — need to be fixed to keep golf fans coming back and give the league the time it needs to grow.
Nor should it be that difficult to correct.
The first – and biggest – issue by far is that TGL doesn’t feel like a competition through two matches. Part of that is because Bay GC dumped the woods on New York GC on opening night, and then LA blew Jupiter’s doors off on Tuesday. Hits happen in sports, but now TGL has a competition problem.
Players should not treat the TGL as a main event or even the standard of PGA Tour play, but to maintain an audience players I DO should see TGL contests as something they they want to win and not just kick-and-laugh with friends in a simulator.
TGL should have the same competitive atmosphere as a basketball game with your college buddies; it’s fun, sure, but you’re still playing for pride – a light-hearted competition that brings out the jokes everyone loves from the world’s best.
We got some of that from Sahith Theegala on Tuesday, who admitted he was “pumped up” after throwing a ball at the giant screen. TGL needs more of this, but right now, it also needs more than just a laugh-fest with “the boys.”
Close matchups should help, but TGL needs to find the right side of this identity line to have some staying power. It’s more than doable, and I would expect the smart people running the league to change things for the better.
But the competitive aspect has been missing in two events and the insistence on going 15 holes regardless of the result does not help.
If Homa is jokingly asking when Duke superstar Cooper Flagg is playing (the answer was after the TGL game that ran into the two-hour broadcast window), you can bet the viewers are, too.
Tiger Woods made his TGL debut. We left with 3 burning questions
Dylan Dethier
The second issue was with the Full Swing simulator technology. This didn’t seem to be a problem on the first night, but it was clear the technology wasn’t working properly on Tuesday night.
There is a zero percent chance that Woods, the greatest ball hitter in history, will hit a 100-yard wedge and end up putting it 20 yards over the green. There were plenty of moments Tuesday night where the simulator left players confused about how badly they hit a shot, especially from short range.
“I didn’t even link that,” is not something that should be a common saying in TGL streams.
Technology cannot make the best in the world look stupid or incompetent. Full stop.
This brings me to green. It’s a technological innovation, but the league needs to fix it. Players of this caliber rarely run 25-foot putts 7 yards past the hole. Tiger Woods and Justin Rose having an impossible time stopping downhill putts and/or missing putts in the 5- to 7-foot range by a half-cup or more… not great.
Like my colleague – emphasized Dylan Dethierplayers did not openly criticize the technology on Tuesday, but the league should leave it until next week’s game.
TGL has promised. It’s not for everyone, but there is an audience for it if it can get a few things on the phone. Do that, and the grand vision of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy could have staying power for a new kind of golf audience.
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