Top takeaways from on-site at TGL’s opening match

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Somewhere between the energetic stadium environment, the prime-time feel on ESPN, the team dynamics and the fact that his squad – The Bay Golf Club – put the beatdown on The New York Golf Club in the first TGL match Tuesday night, Wyndham Clark came to a realization.

“It's the most fun we've ever had playing golf,” Clark said.

His teammate Shane Lowry smiled and only held his tongue briefly before interjecting during the next question.

“The last time I've had that much fun (as) tonight was probably last September,” Lowry chirped, referencing Team Europe’s Ryder Cup victory over Clark and the U.S. “Sorry, Wyndham.”

Point taken.

Maybe his teammate was caught up in the moment, but Clark’s general sentiment rang true for Lowry and Ludvig Åberg, the third member of their team, It was shared by the losing team of Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler.

“It's really cool walking into an arena and doing what we got to do there,” Fowler said.

What started as just a concept of envisioning golf in a new, tech-infused way, culminated Tuesday as the Tiger Woods- and Rory McIlroy-backed TGL held its inaugural match. A soldout crowd packed into the $50-million, state-of-the-art SoFi Center. Thousands more watched on ESPN.

No matter how the league evolves, Tuesday was a success. The league that started as an idea on a cocktail napkin by CEO Mike McCarley is finally a reality.

Here are four takeaways after being on-site for the first TGL match.

The shot clock was seamless

The answer came in unison and emphatically. When asked what TGL rule could be implemented on the PGA TOUR, NYGC members didn’t skip a beat.

“Shot clock, no question,” they said.

If there was a winner from Tuesday’s inaugural TGL match, it was likely the shot clock, which pushed the pace of the proceedings in a way that invigorated the players and kept things moving quickly for those watching on TV. Players have 40 seconds to hit their shot, a timer that begins immediately after a competitor’s turn to finish. There’s no time for questions or last-minute club changes. They have to get up and hit.

“It was much faster than I thought, but I didn't feel like – I felt like I had time to choose my shot,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just wish that was real golf, as well.”

It’s jarring how quickly the transition happens from player to player. On the sixth hole, Åberg’s tee shot had not yet reached the ground and the Swede was already out of the tee box and Schauffele was readying to hit. Within 15 seconds his ball was teed up and in the air. Once both teams have played to the green, the action immediately transitions to the “GreenZone” where players chip and putt.

As TGL looks to differentiate itself from the regularities of pro golf, the shot clock emerged as one of the biggest distinguishers. It’s a vital component of TGL’s business plan. The matches are designed to fit in a two-hour TV window and sold on the fact that there’s really no dead time. Through one match, it fits that billing.

Banter is there in flashes, but is still a work in progress

Shane Lowry could feel the energy lagging. The Bay Golf Club had just put the final nail in New York Golf Club’s coffin, a blowout 9-2 victory in the inaugural TGL match. His opponents were naturally feeling down. But the hook of TGL is that it’s not just competition, it’s entertainment, too, and they feel obligated to provide it. With no color analyst providing context to shots and dishing opinions, it’s on the players to fill in the gaps.

“Like when the match was over after 11 holes, I said, ‘The next half an hour we probably need to be better than we were in the entertainment kind of space,’” Lowry said.

Within moments the jolly Irishman was dishing them out. “I'm going to be the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf,” he said. Later Lowry poked fun at his weight. “A bit like myself,” he said of his chip shot. “A bit chunky.”

In previous editions of "The Match" and other made-for-TV golf ventures, the banter has frequently been talked up but often hasn’t delivered. TGL again provides a prime opportunity to lean into the trash talk as well as offer insight into upcoming shots. It came in spurts on Tuesday, and it’s only likely to increase as the competitors get used to the environment.

Stadium atmosphere adds another layer

Matt Fitzpatrick looked on anxiously as his approach shot hit the TGL’s giant screen and came to life in front of him. What was supposed to be a tight draw was a bit too wayward, and Fitzpatrick watched as his first competitive shot in TGL missed considerably left and boos rained down from the crowd. Fans expected more from the first approach shot ever hit in competitive play and they let him hear it.

The boo birds returned later in the evening as New York dropped another hole and the deficit grew to 9-1.

"I would boo me, too,” Xander Schauffele said aloud, not only for him and his teammates to hear but for the TV audience watching from home.

This was not PGA TOUR golf, and that was the point. This was primetime, stadium TGL golf. And the competitors fed off of it.

“To have the crowd going and you have the speakers really loud, obviously we don't really have that on the golf course,” Åberg said. “I think it's really cool to be in a crowded environment where the people are literally on top of you and screaming. There's a lot of betting going on, so you'll hear some guy saying, don't miss it, don't do that. I think that's really cool. I think that's what I – when I watch other sports, that's what I really like.”

Crowds chanted as the shot clock wound down, even going as far as faking the numbers to hopefully fluster the competitors. "Hammer Time" boomed through the loudspeakers as Shane Lowry hit a tee shot after New York Golf Club threw “the hammer” to double the points on the hole.

It felt like an in-game experience at an NBA game, which amped up the players in a different way.

“I'm about to set off into my 17th year as a pro or 17th season, and I think some weeks can be like monotonous and tough when it gets to that,” Lowry said, “but this is just something different and something fun. I love the big weeks and I love playing in front of big crowds, and I really struggle to get up for certain events when the crowd is not so big and the energy is not there. But the energy is going to be here every night we play, and I'm really looking forward to that.”

Give TGL some time to figure itself out

There will be a time and place to unpack bigger questions about the league’s longevity and where it goes after the novelty of its arrival wears off. Once the newness of the technology isn’t so new, will it still appeal to a large audience?

Answering those questions is central to the league’s long-term future and is among the most compelling for pundits and fans alike to wonder about.

The time to arrive at conclusions is not now. The TGL, for as much as it has been discussed, dissected and previewed over the last several years, is still in its infancy as a league. Tuesday’s match featured just six of the 24 competitors and two of the six teams. McIlroy and Woods, two of the league’s founders, have yet to play.

There will likely be growing pains as the league navigates the best way to display the product on TV and elevate the in-stadium atmosphere. Players were quick to point out Tuesday that it didn’t hit every mark, between the sporadic trash talk, the inconsistent playability of the green surrounds or simply the competitiveness of the actual match. There are kinks to iron out. In the meantime, watch it evolve and see what comes.

“We've got Tiger Woods next week, so we'll do all right next week, I know that,” Lowry said. “Hopefully it goes from strength to strength from here, but I know we'll be all right next week.”