TGL Report Card

🗣️ Hello Friends

We are four weeks into Tiger’s indoor simulator golf league known as the TGL. So far it has had its ups and downs, as expected for a new innovative league that we have never seen before. 

I have read basically every take on the internet from folks who really enjoy the league, and some from people that still don’t understand what is going on (aka my dad).  

I thought for this week’s newsletter I would bring back Justin, my brother & editor, as we give some grades on the TGL so far through the first four matches. 

Here are the three categories:

• Player performance 

• TV production

• Entertainment value 

Let’s dive right into it!

Player Performance

Josh’s Grade: C

If you have watched all four of the TGL matches to date, we only have had one match that was truly competitive. Tiger, Kevin Kisner, and Tom Kim of Jupiter Links shocked the world, upsetting Rory, Adam Scott, and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley of Boston Common Golf. 

It is fairly evident that players are still getting their feet wet figuring out their distances on the simulator and chipping and putting on the greens. For example, a couple of these pros flew greens with their wedges, which rarely happens on tour. 

Jupiter Links had the advantage over Boston Common because they had played a match before. In my opinion, the holes are designed to favor driving distance and elite long iron play. This makes it tougher to hit greens in regulation, forcing players to get up and down on the greens. 

I expect the quality of play to only go up as players get more comfortable inside the SoFi Center.

Justin’s Grade: B-

I believe the player performance of the TGL has been solid throughout the first four matches. 

The best performance so far was from Los Angeles Golf Club in its first match, defeating Jupiter Links 12-1. Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala and Justin Rose figured out the simulator and the short game area really quickly, and it was a rather impressive performance.

However, some of the player performances from the losing side have been somewhat putrid. There’s been a lot of balls in hazards, missed greens and duffed chips. But that’s also what makes the TGL unique, it’s supposed to be challenging for these golfers.

So far, there has been a lot of great golf, but a good amount of bad golf, which balances my grade to a B-.

TV Production

Josh’s Grade: A-

Going into the season, I was very skeptical on what the TV production would be like. However, I was quite impressed by the first couple matches, as the league is designed to be a made for tv event. 

ESPN has done a great job showcasing the state of the art technology of the unique features of both the simulator and the green that changes its undulations every hole. 

Additionally, since golf twitter convinced ESPN to display metrics during the broadcast like ball speed and carry distance, it has added a spice for us nerds and for broadcasters to explain the terminology. 

Finally, the SoFi Center is pretty cool, even if it’s a small venue. I think there’s a charm to that and the production has shown it off very well, showing fans and the celebrity investors often cheering on their team. 

Justin’s Grade: A

Contrary to Josh, I actually thought heading into the inaugural TGL season that the TV production would be really good for this league. ESPN has invested a plethora of resources and money into this entire operation, and they were going to make it as intriguing for viewers at home as possible.

And I do believe ESPN has executed, and have done a great job at producing the TGL. The graphics are engaging and clean, and they’ve done a great job at mic’ing up players so we can hear their discourse and banter. 

The SoFi Center is awesome, and you can hear the crowd cheer and boo throughout each match. I’m not sure what else critics would want that is not already included in the production. 

TV production gets an A for me.

Entertainment Value

Josh’s Grade: B+

To be honest, this grade is a tad skewed because the first three matches weren’t that entertaining since they were blowouts. I think I would have given this an A- if we had a bigger sample size of competitive matches. 

The player banter between teammates, the opposition, and the energy from the crowd has been great. 

Similar sentiment to player performance but the players are still getting used to being on camera and being mic’d up, with every word getting caught on camera. You can tell that some players have been hesitant, particularly the ones that are already shy to begin with. 

I don’t mind the quick interviews Matt Barrie, SVP, or Marty Smith have done with the players during the matches. They have asked questions centering around their shot selection and thought process. 

The last match between Boston Common and Jupiter Links was by far the best match so far. This is what they envisioned TGL to be: competitive, great banter, and viral moments to be captured for talk on social media. 

They have certainly gotten great social engagement from the matches, which is one of the goals from the TGL.

Justin’s Grade: B

Due to two complete blowouts and one not real competitive match among the TGL’s first four matches of its existence, I’m going to stick with a solid B here.

I do enjoy Scott Van Pelt’s pre-match interviews with some of the marquee players like Tiger, Rory, Rickie, etc. We get entertaining insight from the players that viewers typically don’t get during PGA Tour events.

The banter between players has been really fun to watch. Kevin Kisner has brought my player performance grade down, but brings my entertainment value grade right back up!

One thing I’ll push back on is the hole selection and inclusion in each match. Let’s switch it up, I find watching the same holes over and over again very dull and repetitive. It would be more entertaining to me if there were more holes included in the TGL rotation.

It’s a B for me here, and it would go higher with a fun, competitive match between Boston and LA.

TGL 📈

Overall, I have genuinely enjoyed the TGL so far. 

People are finally starting to come around to accept what the TGL is. The league is for entertainment and to play golf on a sick simulator and green complex. 

If you want to watch these players hit sick shots and make a ton of birdies, you can tune into the PGA Tour Thursday-Sunday of every week.

Hopefully we get a competitive match tonight between Boston Common Golf and Los Angeles Golf Club. 

Talk soon!