While TGL will clearly never be every golf fan’s cup of tea, the league has definitely managed to display its potential in the last few weeks after a mixed start to its inaugural campaign.
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of TGL‘s first year, with the season being delayed by 12 months. There have been plenty of hurdles along the way, including losing both Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
And there are plenty of golf fans who have not taken to the format. There were times when the matches would drag, particularly when they were one-sided. Meanwhile, some of the presentation was difficult to sit through. There were also concerns at times that the simulators may not be working properly.
But worries that no-one would care unless Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy were playing have been put to bed. It has been the likes of Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner and Tommy Fleetwood who have arguably been amongst the best signings for the league.
Ryan Lavner admits he has been surprised by TGL
And Monday was surely its best day yet, with all three matches being decided by one point. There was plenty of drama and there really felt like there was some jeopardy as the playoffs start to edge closer. Wyndham Clark claimed to almost enjoy TGL more than PGA Tour events.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner insisted that the players deserve enormous credit for making viewers care a lot more than perhaps they expected to.
“I think I’ve been pleasantly surprised, and I’ve enjoyed TGL more than I thought I was going to. And I think that’s a lot to do because of the players. This triple-header that you had on Presidents’ Day was the perfect example, because if there was any time for the players to be weary of this, to be completely disinterested, it was going to be during that triple-header. Most of those players had just played three consecutive weeks: Pebble Beach, Phoenix and the Genesis Invitational. They were just coming off of a brutally difficult golf course in pretty nasty conditions, at least for half of the week, flying all the way across the country to then go play in a simulator golf league, including Ludvig Aberg, the tournament winner, who got home at 3:30, slept for two hours and then had to play two matches at 4 o’clock, and then the nightcap. And yet, the action was really good. Some of the best golf that we have seen, the players were engaged, they were energetic, they seemed to care about the outcome,” he said.
“That was something that I think had lacked over the first couple of weeks, was that players were figuring out what it all meant. Should I care about the competition? Is it just like a silly free-for-all? Look, I’m not going to pretend to care completely about the SoFi Cup and the standings and who’s inside the playoff picture. But the two hours are entertaining, it’s harmless fun. It’s great to see golf during a time of the week where we typically would not see golf. If you love golf, you like seeing golf on your television screens.
“I don’t think it needs to be game-changing, it’s never going to take over the PGA Tour. Sometimes good can just be good enough, and we should just enjoy it for what it is. And right now, I’m enjoying TGL for exactly what it is and what it’s supposed to be.”
Billy Horschel made a correct prediction about TGL back in December
While some players are not suited to the format, some have absolutely embraced the environment and ensured that there is a lot to be optimistic about.
One of those who has done a superb job is Billy Horschel. Horschel has danced into the arena and not been afraid to poke fun at himself – in stark contract to his teammate Patrick Cantlay who has barely cracked a smile when he has played.
Interestingly, Horschel was spot on in his assessment of what was going to be needed in TGL back in December as he assessed some of the issues from The Showdown.
“I’m not going to lie, I watched it last night and I’ve said this from the very beginning about this, because when you understand what’s going into it and everything else, you realise that for this to be successful, us as players need to be entertainers, we need to be different from what we are out at a PGA Tour event, inside the ropes. We need to play competitive golf and we need to be great at that aspect, but we need to be entertainers,” he said.
As Lavner suggests, TGL is never going to be the most prestigious event in golf. But cricket fans will know what winning the Indian Premier League means to the players despite the fact that the event will never get as close to being as important as The Ashes to the sport’s purists.
Perhaps golf has now found its own version.
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