While TGL is never going to be loved by every golf fan, it does appear that the opening season will have to be considered a success with many anticipating that the venture would struggle to gain any kind of popularity.
It says a lot about how good TGL has been at times that the playoffs taking place without co-founders Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy does not seem like a disaster.
It appeared to be a masterstroke to have Woods not play until week two, with fans always likely to watch the first ever match out of intrigue. And Woods and his Jupiter Links team have certainly been entertaining.
Woods’ reaction to Kevin Kisner thinning a bunker shot into the flag in their first game looked set to be the moment of the season. But the 15-time major champion has created some highlights of his own – most notably, hitting a 99-yard wedge shot when he had 199 yards to the pin after a misunderstanding.
How Tiger Woods reacted to Jupiter Links not making the TGL playoffs
Of course, something which has been clear to see in recent weeks is how much the players do actually want to win at TGL. And it seems that Woods – for all he has achieved – has been extremely keen to succeed in the SoFi Center.
Speaking to CBS, Max Homa was asked how Woods is in the Jupiter Links group chat, and he shared his reaction to their failure to make the playoffs.
“No, Tiger’s not [quiet]. He’s the boss, so he’s firing everybody up. I mean, he was pretty funny. We were out, we couldn’t make the playoffs anymore, so I was texting the group kind of like, ‘what the hell is the point of this?’ And he was like, ‘well, let’s take this anger out on them. Let’s go beat them’. And I was just thinking to myself, you’ve really got nothing to do right now, this is probably a big thing. I’ve got to play Bay Hill in two days. So that was funny,” he said.
“He actually leads the chat. Kis is obviously very funny in there. I think me and Tom more or less are just along for the ride wherever they take us. They both like to talk a lot of trash.”
Tiger Woods remains one of the most competitive figures on the PGA Tour
It has arguably helped TGL to have so many of the biggest names in the game clearly care about being successful in the league. Ultimately, Woods’ legacy is not going to be at all influenced by how he performs in the SoFi Center. But he still obviously wants to win.
He is a competitor like no-one else, with Woods happy to play mind games with his peers throughout his career. And whenever he stood over a putt which meant something, it was remarkable just how many times the putt would drop.
That bodes well for the future of TGL. If Woods is emotionally invested in the format, there is always likely to be an audience for it.
And judging by his comments, it certainly appears that he has every intention of having another go next year.
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