TGL season preview, lingering questions

Check back each week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we preview the first match and season of Tiger Woods’ TGL simulator league and discuss what the league needs to do to succeed.

Finally, after a year-long delay and months of hype for the technology-backed golf league promoted by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the first match of the inaugural TGL golf season starts at 9:00 PM ET on Tuesday on ESPN. What’s your biggest question you want answered as you tune in for opening night?

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens). It’s a pretty basic question that applies to a lot of entertainment in our broken and distracted age. Will it be fun and fast and feel really new and exciting, with enough golf to win over a traditional audience and enough innovation to capture a new one by winning the approval of the ‘internet?’ Or will it come off as a contrived and cynical cash grab, which has happened to many other televised golf concepts?

Jessica Marksbury, Senior Editor (@jess_marksbury): Josh, on the spot. The biggest selling point with a format like this is the showcase it provides for the various personalities involved. I’m wondering how loose these guys are willing to be. Because just watching them fire shots in a simulator for a few hours won’t be enough for me.

Jack Hirsh, equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): Ok Jess, will there be enough jokes to make it interesting? We all remember how loud the first match between Tiger and Phil was, but it really wasn’t that good of TV because Tiger and Phil were competitors, not entertainers, and the banter between the two wasn’t that good . It wasn’t until The Match II when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were added to liven things up that the series became successful. Will the whole concept of a simulator league be enough to lighten things up between some normally steely competitors? We will see.

of the first match will feature The Golf Club of New York (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler) vs. The Bay Golf Club (Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry). (Three of each team’s four players compete in a match.) Does the first match have enough star power to interest the public?

Meaning: If this were a traditional tournament, I wouldn’t call this a field that is destined to move the needle significantly. But it’s certainly not a traditional tournament. At this early stage, good old-fashioned curiosity should be enough to get people to tune in. Would more people learn if Tiger Woods played? Of course. But this schedule was not made by flipping. It was intended. By not featuring Woods in the debut, my guess is that TGL is saving its dust for when the inaugural novelty wears off. The organizers realize that the field itself is probably not the most important factor this week.

Marksbury: Agreed. We’ll tune in regardless! But the novelty factor will only last so long. With the exception of Lowry, I don’t see this opening cast as much of a hot, yuk-it-up kind. But maybe I will be pleasantly surprised!

Hirsh: Yes, I’m very interested in TGL and I like the idea, but I’m not sure I like the strategy of not putting Tiger in the first game. I understand that the idea, like ours James Colgan reported back in Octoberwill strategically use Woods’ debut the day after the broadcast network, ESPN, hosts an NFL playoff game to promote it. But, we all know that Tiger is the needle. Rickie Fowler is probably the only player the casual golf fan will recognize. Even after Schauffele won two majors last year, I still don’t think his brand has caught on with the die-hard golf fans. Shouldn’t TGL be using Tiger as much as possible to grab the attention of non-avid golf fans with a new concept?

Finish this thought: to TGL will thrive if…

sense: If it has pulling power beyond its novelty and the Tiger name. And if it’s talked about – as opposed to widely mocked – on social media. It will definitely help if the games are close and the shots look challenging. Beyond that, it’s about intangibles. In one respect, TGL seems to check the right boxes for our times. It’s high-tech and meant to be fast. There are celebrities associated with it and popular broadcasters calling the shots. Oh, and you can gamble with it. But elements that look great in isolation don’t always work together. The magic formula is hard to predict. At least for me. When Survivor first aired, I thought, who would watch this garbage? Shows how much you know.

Marksbury: I’ve seen quite a bit of alternative golf in recent months, from Golfzon Tour simulator matches on YouTube to a heated, high-stakes par-3 tournament here in Phoenix. And one thing is certain: golf is alone part of the package. To stay interested, we need a reason to get into rivalries, personalities, and stories. Everything should matter. So I hope there’s a lot to chew on with TGL.

Hirsh: Call me a broken record for saying this above, but I really think it will come down to jokes. The players have raised the microphone, will it really be useful? If guys lose and punch each other during the match, while there’s still an obviously high level of competition, that can be fun. Everyone is entertained on their golf course by the guy who can tee off without practicing and casually shoot a 67 while trash talking everyone. This is the kind of golf I want to see.

And fight if…

Meaning: Here, I will repeat some of my answers from above. If the joke is lame, as the kids say, if the matches are bloated, and if the headliners and hype tech aren’t enough to hold interest. Also: if the technology fails often enough that it doesn’t seem reliable. There is an obvious danger in live TV. My litmus test after the first broadcast will be to ask my kids and their friends, who are in their teens and twenties. If they find it ‘weird’, I’ll take it as a sign of trouble.

Marksbury: My hope is that listening to the team’s interactions will feel like a fly on the wall in the games these guys routinely play against each other. without camera rotation. If they don’t get to be themselves – or if they get to be themselves but it’s just not that interesting – I can’t see this effort becoming a huge success.

Hirsh: I agree Jess, if every match ends up like the first Tiger-Phil match then TGL could die fast. We got to see a side of these guys that we’ve never seen before and we’re going to get a golf product unlike anything we’ve seen before. If the players treat this as business as usual, it won’t work.

Hideki Matsuyama won the Sentry in the season openerbeating Collin Morikawa by three with a PGA Tour record score of 35 under. Does anyone impress you? Does it surprise you? What was your score from Week 1 of the 2025 PGA Tour marathon season?

Meaning: Collin Morikawa looks hungry to get that third major, after some close calls last year. He didn’t win, but I dug his new Sam Snead-esque pre-kick routine and the ball he hit gave way. He had some brief glitches in the game. But it still took a record number of birds to beat him.

Marksbury: 1: Maui is always a welcome sight in January. These views are truly unmatched. And as far as player performances go, this week was a great reminder of just how incredibly talented Hideki is. Thirty-five under, a new scoring record (!!!). This is incredible! I think he tends to fly under the radar at times, even as a major champion (though not for our betting expert Brady Kannon, who is 1/1 in winning picks so far this year!). I will say I’m a little surprised by Xander. He has an excellent record at the Plantation course, with a win in 2019 and three other top 10s since then. He was T30 this week — his worst finish ever — and was never really in the conversation.

Hirsh: Hard not to be impressed when Hideki averages just one birdie less than one every other hole. I don’t care how “easy” that golf course played, this tournament was never meant to take away from the stupidity of these guys and that course WILL get the crap out of those tees everyone reading this story. Can the 5th hole be bogged down on a par-4? Well maybe (it averaged 4.1 this week), but the rate is still just an arbitrary number. It’s the first tournament of the year on a beautiful and exotic resort course with only the top 60 players from last year invited. Let’s make some birds!

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