It remains to be seen if TGL has the ability to hold onto the fans for the entirety of its inaugural season, but there is little question that its first ever match proved to be a real success.
While some aspects remain a work in progress, TGL seemed to get off to a great start. The likes of Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Shane Lowry seemed to embrace the format as The Bay emphatically beat New York.
Max Homa had assured doubters the experience would be incredible. And it did indeed appear to live up to expectations. It was intriguing to see the players hitting into the screen, and off different lies.
Meanwhile, some of the best interactions took place on and around the green. And it was impossible not to be impressed by the way the putting surface would change for each hole.
Smylie Kaufman suggests the most underrated part of TGL
There are arguably elements of the presentation which need changes – there were too many voices on the broadcast which were not the players. But it helped that the players appeared to be so invested in the game. And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman explained how seeing the players waiting to find out how each of their shots fared was a real – and unexpected – plus.
“You see their face, which is what I like. Alright, contact looked good, watch their face. They like it, but they don’t really know either. And when you follow the ball; I think to me that was the most underrated aspect of what I liked about the product, is that I didn’t expect that,” he said.
“I’ve watched golf my whole life, I know what a good golf shot should end up, but maybe it’s because I don’t know the golf holes and I don’t know how it’s going to land, but even when I’m still watching it with a second and a half to go, I’m like, is it good? And I think that’s the harmless fun in watching it I think.”
How TGL performed in the ratings
It was no surprise to see TGL attract a lot of fans. Whether viewers expected it to be good or not, the format was so different to anything else at the elite level of the game that many were fascinated to see how it would play out.
TGL attracted 3.2 million views across the entire broadcast. Meanwhile, over 900,000 watched on ESPN. When you consider that The Showdown was watched by 625,000, that seems like a big victory for TGL considering the star power of last month’s event.
And with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy still to make their debuts in TGL, there is reason to be optimistic that the league has real potential to be extremely successful.
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