TGL season preview, quizzes

Check in every week for the unfiltered views of our writers and editors as they analyze the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we preview the first game and season of Tiger Woods’ TGL simulation league and discuss what the league needs to do to succeed.

Finally, after a year-long delay and months of hype promoting the technology-enhanced golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the inaugural TGL golf season will begin at 9 pm ET Tuesday on ESPN. What is your biggest question mark that you want answered as you sing for opening night?

Josh Sens, senior author (@joshsens). It’s a good basic question that applies to a lot of entertainment in our broken, distracted age. Will it be fun and fast and feel really fresh and exciting, with enough golf to win over a traditional audience and enough freshness to capture the new while gaining the approval of the ‘Internet?’ Or will it come off as a contrived and deceptive money grab, which has been the case with other televised golf concepts?

Jessica Marksbury, editor-in-chief (@jess_marksbury): Josh, look. The biggest selling point with a format like this is the exposure it gives to a variety of related people. I wonder how much slack these guys are willing to take. Because just watching them launch a gun in a simulator for a few hours won’t be enough for me.

Jack Hirsh, equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): Agree Jess, will there be enough sarcasm to make it interesting? We all remember how intense the first match between Tiger and Phil was, but it really wasn’t that good of TV because Tiger and Phil were competitive, not fun and the banter between the two wasn’t that great. It wasn’t until The Match II when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were added to the lineup that the series became a success. Will the whole idea of ​​a simulation league be enough to make things easier between the often steely competitors? We will see.

The first match will pit New York Golf Club (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler) against Bay Golf Club (Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry). (Three out of four players from each team compete in the match.) Does the first game have enough star power to get the public interested?

Senses: If this were a traditional tournament, I wouldn’t call this industry aiming to move the needle too much. However, it is not a traditional competition. At this early stage, plain old curiosity should be enough to get people singing. Would more people sing if Tiger Woods played? Of course. But this program is not done with a coin flip. It was thought. By excluding Woods at the start, my guess ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ is is is is TGL is saving its powder when it starts to run out. The organizers understand that the sector itself is probably not the most important thing this week.

Marksbury: Agree. We will be open regardless! But the new feature will only last so long. Other than Lowry, I don’t see this opening for many hot-take-spewing, yuk-it-up type actors. But maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Hirsh: Yeah I’m really interested in TGL and I like the idea, but I’m not sure I like the strategy of not including Tiger in the first game. I get that the idea, as our James Colgan reported back in October, is to make good use of putting Woods first one day after the broadcast network, ESPN, hosts an NFL game to promote it. But, we all know that Tiger is a needle. Rickie Fowler is probably the only player that a golf fan can’t see. Even after Schauffele won two majors last year, I still don’t think his brand has caught on with avid golf fans. Shouldn’t TGL be using Tiger as much as possible to capture the attention of non-enthusiastic golf fans with a new idea?

Complete this thought: TGL will thrive if…

Sens: If it has more drawing power than the new item with the Tiger name. And when it’s talked about – instead of widely mocked – on social media. It will definitely help when the game is close and the shots seem properly challenging. Besides, it comes down to intangibles. On the other hand, TGL seems to be ticking the right boxes for our time. It is high quality and meant to go fast. It includes celebrities in it, and favorite broadcasters who host the show. Oh, and you can gamble on it. But features that seem good on their own don’t always work when combined. It is difficult to predict the magic formula. At least for me. When Survivor started airing, I thought, Who would watch this garbage? It shows how much I know.

Marksbury: I’ve watched a fair bit of other golf in recent months, from the Golfzon Tour simulation matches on YouTube to the flashy, high stakes par-3 tournament here in Phoenix. And one thing is certain: Only golf part of the package. To stay interested, we need a reason to embrace competition, personality and stories. Everything should matter. So I hope I have a lot to chew on with TGL.

Hirsh: Call me a broken record because I said this above, but I think it will go down. The players are mic’d, will that really help? If guys lose and swipe during the game, while there’s still a high level of competition, that can be fun. Everyone is excited on their golf course by someone who can go out without practice and just shoot a 67 while trash talking everyone else. That’s the kind of golf I want to see.

And it’s hard when…

Senses: Here, I will update some of my answers from above. If the banter is lame, as the kids say, if the matches are hit, and if the catchphrases and whiz-bang tech are enough to sustain interest. Also: if technology crashes 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 twenties and twenties. If they see it as ‘bad,’ I will take it as a sign of trouble.

Marksbury: I hope that listening to the teamwork will be like being a fly on the wall in the games these guys are used to playing outside camera rolling. If they can’t get into being themselves – or if they succeed in being themselves, but it’s not as exciting – I don’t see this effort being a resounding success.

Hirsh: I agree Jess, if every match ends like the first Tiger-Phil match, then TGL can 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 players treat this as business as usual, it won’t work.

Hideki Matsuyama won the season-opening Sentry, beating Collin Morikawa by three with a PGA Tour record 35 under. Anyone impressed? Are you surprised? What did you take away from the first week of the marathon 2025 PGA Tour season?

Senses: Collin Morikawa seems hungry to find that third team, after a couple of close calls last year. He didn’t win but I dig his new Sam Snead-esque pre-shot routine and the ball went wide. He had a few short game mistakes. But he still needs a record-number of birds to beat him.

Marksbury: Takeaway No. 1: Maui is always a treat in January. Those vistas are truly unique. And as far as acting goes, this week was a great reminder of just how incredibly talented Hideki is. Thirty-five under, a new scoring record (!!!). That is unbelievable! I think he tends to fly under the radar at times, even as a major leaguer (though not for our betting expert Brady Kannon, who is 1/1 pick to win so far this year!). I will say I was a little surprised by Xander. He has an excellent record on 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 in the conversation.

The Hirsh: It’s hard not to be impressed when Hideki averages just one birdie shy of every other hole. I don’t care how “easy” the golf course is played, this tournament was not meant to drive these guys and that course away. would be take the crack out everyone reading this story from those girls. Can the 5th hole be changed to a par-4? Well maybe (it hit 4.1 this week), but par is just a meaningless number. The first tournament of the year on a beautiful and unique course where only 60 of last year’s top players are invited. Let them make birds!

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