Shane Lowry gets TGL underway for its inaugural season in Florida.

After a 12-month delay, the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy-fronted Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) is up and running. But did the tech-infused action deliver on its ambitious goals?

Ahead of the season opener, TGL co-founder McIlroy described the indoor simulator league as “golf reimagined for the 21st century.” Alongside Woods and former NBC golf executive Mike McCarley, the trio hope to engage audiences outside of the sport’s typical wheelhouse by capitalizing on golf’s digital revolution.

And on Tuesday evening, as Shane Lowry struck the first ball in TGL history in front of 1,500 spectators and a live TV audience, we saw our first glimpse of elite golf in the ‘sim world’. Woods and McIlroy had dodged teeing it up for the opening fixture, although were present to watch on enthusiastically and no doubt nervously, as the state-of-the-art technology was put to the test.

A year earlier the purpose-built SoFi Center’s roof had collapsed during a storm in Palm Beach County, leading to a 12-month delay which Woods later described as a “blessing in disguise,” allowing more time for the product to be polished and team rosters to be filled.

So, with a bonus year of preparation under their belt, how was TGL’s debut received when the curtains came up for the inaugural match featuring Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rickie Fowler of New York GC against Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, and Lowry of The Bay GC? After watching the two-hour prime-time extravaganza, here’s how we marked TGL’s scorecard…

TGL Debut: How we scored it

Entertainment – 3/5

The single most important measure of success for any live sporting event has to be the entertainment factor. Excitement, jeopardy, engaging protagonists, pace…it all has to be there. And for the large part, TGL’s debut was entertaining. The player ‘ring-walks’ were a nice touch to kickstart proceedings and get the crowd going, even if they do come across as a little underwhelming on TV.

Unfortunately, The Bay’s 9-2 drubbing of New York was about the worst thing that could have happened from an entertainment perspective. Lowry, Clark, and Aberg raced into a 6-1 lead after the triples which all but ended any hope of us being gripped to the end. The result looked like a foregone conclusion early doors, which inevitably killed off any banter and needle between the teams.

It definitely came across as a completely fresh take on golf, ‘Americanized’ in all its glory under the glitzy roof of the Sofi Center with non-stop music throughout. The players couldn’t help but repeat how ‘they’ve never had so much fun on a golf course” in the post-match pressers, although I’m not so sure that came through on the broadcast. No doubt a heightened experience for the live audience.

Player Interaction – 2/5

A unique selling point of TGL is that every player is mic’d up, enabling fans rare access into the decision-making process of players during competition, and more importantly for an entertainment show, the chance for some trash-talking. As above, the run-away scoreline put an end to this before it even got started. Xander did his best to get involved by interrupting Wyndham Clark as he was trying to read a putt worth two points, but other than that…it was all a bit vanilla, to be honest. I’ve no doubt this will only improve as the season goes on and more of the bigger personalities take the stage.

Newbie-friendly – 3/5

The central aim of TGL is to open up golf to non-traditional audiences. Therefore, ensuring the reimagined format and rules are easily digestible for everyone, regardless of golf experience, is fundamental to its success. Each fixture consists of 15 holes divided into two sessions: nine holes of alternate shot triples and six holes of head-to-head singles golf – simple enough…just about. I liked the addition of a Joker card known as ‘The Hammer’ that can be used to double-up points for going on to win the hole. I didn’t find it particularly intuitive to follow, however, and I doubt it was for newcomers either. Also, the random orange rag that seemed to initiate it all was rather odd considering the tech-rich environment!

For the golf fan? – 2/5

While engaging new audiences might be the aim of the game, it can’t be at the expense of turning off its existing fanbase. Therefore have Woods and Co managed to capture the interest of the dwindling PGA Tour viewership, or will golfers wish they’d trawled through Netflix for another Nicolas Cage movie instead? Given the choice, I’d be torn, to be honest.

Make no mistake, this is a completely different product to ‘real golf’, and needs to be judged against what it has been designed for – entertainment. If you want to get to know the personalities behind the swings more, then fill your boots. But if it’s the ‘golf’ you’re tuning for, you may want to wait a couple of days until the tour action re-starts. As one avid golf fan who watches the PGA Tour religiously told me, “Is this a joke? I’m not sure the players are even taking it seriously!”

The Course – 3/5

The part I was most intrigued about seeing brought to life on the 64×53 ft simulator screen was the bank of virtual holes, void of real-world barriers to golf course design, typically restricted by budgets, environmental issues, planning permissions, and availability of land. I was really hoping for the same feeling you get when playing Mario Golf, with holes only limited by the scope of your imagination. Once again, it ended up being a bit of a halfway house and a missed opportunity to really make a statement.

Long-game – 2/5

Thanks to the sheer size of the simulator screen, drives and approach shots are played from one of two ‘ScreenZone’ hitting areas that are much further away than a regular-sized simulator. Shane Lowry spoke of his nerves before hitting the opening drive, but as soon as that was out of the way, they no doubt began to dissipate, along with my intrigue as I watched shot after shot being hit into a simulator. It grows tired quickly in my opinion.

Short-game – 4/5

For shots within 50 yards, players head over to the all-singing and dancing ‘GreenZone’ short-game complex featuring the largest-ever adaptable putting green, propped up on a 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates the green 360 degrees to change approach angles. Despite a few acknowledgments from the pros that the grain around the green doesn’t quite play as it does out on the course, and the bounce can be a little unpredictable in places, you won’t hear anyone denying how impressive this setup is. Ludvig Aberg’s 32-foot hole-out for birdie which left Tiger Woods in awe was undoubtedly the night’s highlight and drew the biggest reaction from the crowd.

The Technology – 5/5

Ultimately, everything hinged on the tech. It had to feel real and reflect the typical performance outcomes we expect from this caliber of player. And there can be no complaints. The tech was undeniably the star of the show, demonstrating the full capabilities of what can be achieved in the ‘sim world’. The giant simulator screen permitted longer ball flights and in turn more data points to be measured, providing a more accurate representation of the ball’s real-world trajectory, bounce, and finishing location. Further, although looking and feeling the same as the pros are accustomed to, the balls used in TGL have been constructed with specialist materials that make it easier for Full Swing’s radars to capture spin rate.

‘Hook’ability – 2/5

Last, but certainly not least, is a consideration for how likely first-time TGL viewers are to tune back in for Matchday 2 next week when Tiger Woods and his Jupiter Links franchise make their bow. If it wasn’t for Tiger, I’d more than settle for a highlights package. His scheduling next week is a smart move and will likely help keep the TGL’s momentum going in the short term. One bugbear of mine was that neither team wore matching kits. They were roughly the same shade, but an easy win to help fans buy into a team would surely have been to standardize the clobber.

I asked my non-golf-playing mum and her golf-mad partner, who coincidently live in Palm Beach, to watch the season opener and let me know their thoughts…this is what they had to say:

Bridget: “It looks like a sophisticated Top Golf to me. The technology is impressive but looks far more fun to play than watch. The atmosphere in the crowd seems good and reminds me of a celebrity indoor tennis match. It may be fun to watch live, but no, I would not watch it again on TV.”

Erik: “My first impression is that this is a joke and I’m not even convinced the players are taking it seriously. I was really impressed with the technology, especially the greens which I can relate more to as a golfer. However, I would definitely not watch it again unless there is nothing else to watch.”

TGL Debut: Final Verdict – 3/5

There is a lot to admire about the ambition behind TGL and the technological innovation that makes it all possible. I do not doubt that future matchups will provide more jeopardy and in turn, generate more crowd interaction and player trash-talking. It was unfortunate the opening fixture was so one-sided and ironic considering the scorecard was pretty much reversed during practice as Wyndham Clark admitted afterward. Its success moving forward really hinges on the willingness of the players to show their true colors and give us something we don’t know about them and their processes that we can’t glean from watching the PGA Tour. Otherwise, it very quickly becomes just a group of guys hitting balls into a simulator for two hours. Tiger and Rory will need to step up and set an example in the coming weeks.

Ludvig Aberg repeatedly described how this was “the future of the game,” which felt a little media-trained and started to grate on me after a while. It feels disingenuous considering how golf participation in all its guises has been surging for a good number of years now. It certainly lives up to McIlroy’s billing as a reimagined version of the game for the 21st century, and I liked the sound of where it could get to in the future with each franchise having its own stadiums and virtual courses suited to the strengths of the home players. They could even take a leaf out of LIV’s book and have a transfer window. I could definitely get on board with that as a future direction.

The whole evening just felt a bit starchy, to be honest, especially considering TGL was specifically conceived to generate new fans. As our TG Equipment Writer Lewis Daff pointed out: “Where were the sneakers, backward caps, and untucked shirts.” To end on a positive note, the players seemed to enjoy themselves (perhaps more than the rest of us) and loved the 40-second shot clock that ensured a fast-paced broadcast. Patrick Cantlay will need to get himself mentally prepared!

Overall, I think three out of five is a fair reflection of TGL’s debut. There’s nothing particularly horrible about the whole thing. I just wish everything was a bit more ‘out there,’ and challenged the perceptions of how non-golfers view golf. It all felt a little safe and runs the risk of failing to capture the imagination of new audiences while also not quite going far enough to engage existing ones.

What did social media have to say?

Here’s a selection of our favorite reactions on X…

Image credits: TGL

About the author

Ross Tugwood – Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.