https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/41923519/tiger-woods-rory-mcilroy-tech-golf-league-debut-jan-7

Saw this story on ESPN today and sounds like the league is actually happening. Are people excited about this?

I have some serious doubts on how entertaining it will be to watch, but was excited to watch Tiger swing a golf club no matter the format. With him having another back surgery and probably not able to participate, I think this could be a bust pretty fast.

I also do not get the teams being tied to cities? It is all taking place in Florida and a lot of the players have no ties to the cities they are representing. Feels forced and just weird.

Sounds dumb and boring

boring

I'm guessing the novelty of it will get a decent amount of eyeballs at the outset. The question is whether it'll be interesting enough to get people to watch again. I'm doubtful but we'll see. One way I could see it being interesting is if the guys are mic'ed up and they let their guards down and trash talk like they do when no one's listening. I highly doubt anyone other than maybe JT would be willing to do this, but I could see it being entertaining if they did that.

Agreed.

The leaders of this though don't seem like those kind of personalities.

https://tglgolf.com/explained


Judging from this it seems like this will be better viewing for those who tune into ESPN 8 The Ocho. Anything golf related with a Referee seems dumb.

The end goal of this is obviously not to be an entertaining TV product, but to create simulator franchises with this tech and let this be a big ad for it.

The team aspect is unbelievably dumb. For example... Mr Boston himself Rory or Hideki. Or Homa who is as LA as it gets on Jupiter. Or The most NY of them all Xander, Rickie and Matt Fitz.

If they've learned anything from LIV, it should be that people don't care about meaningless contrived golf events.

That being said I can't wait to get some Ball Frogs gear ironically.

I can almost see them do tv appropriate trash talk that's approved by the pr people and it turns out to be pretty cringe worthy. No way they really cut loose with cameras and mics everywhere.

I do think they thought it could be somewhat entertaining and with Tiger leading they could get eyeballs. I don't see this tech being able to be scaled across the country.

I'm invested as much in these teams as LIV, DGAS.

The Milkman said:

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The end goal of this is obviously not to be an entertaining TV product, but to create simulator franchises with this tech and let this be a big ad for it.

The team aspect is unbelievably dumb. For example... Mr Boston himself Rory or Hideki. Or Homa who is as LA as it gets on Jupiter. Or The most NY of them all Xander, Rickie and Matt Fitz.

If they've learned anything from LIV, it should be that people don't care about meaningless contrived golf events.

That being said I can't wait to get some Ball Frogs gear ironically.

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I agree that team golf is a tough sell if there's no natural reason for there to be a team. But if you're gonna try, geography is as good a way as any and is how every other team sport is set up. And no one complains that CJ Stroud isn't actually from Houston. But I think they screwed up by just throwing the teams together. Should have announced the franchises and then did a draft. Would have given them some early publicity and given people more reason to buy in.

Filthy rich millionaires playing Big Break style challenges on a computer screen in a contrived team format. Can't wait!

AggieViking15 said:

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I can almost see them do tv appropriate trash talk that's approved by the pr people and it turns out to be pretty cringe worthy. No way they really cut loose with cameras and mics everywhere.

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Yeah there is really nothing more cringe worthy than when players give fake trash talk while they are miked up. JT probably the worst offender. All of "the match"es were this way.

So I rolled my eyes at this. Watching the preview of the courses and stadium is pretty dang cool. The team behind setting this up did a great job.

Still have my doubts about the players carrying this.

They just need to lean into making this more like WWE and less like the PGA Tour. I don't need to see pros playing Congressional on a simulator. I haven't seen what the courses look like but they should have some Wolf Creek or Kapalua layouts on steroids that are bordering provocative. I love the PGA Tour and keep up with it throughout the year but I'm out if it feels the same.

aggiebonzo said:

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They just need to lean into making this more like WWE and less like the PGA Tour. I don't need to see pros playing Congressional on a simulator. I haven't seen what the courses look like but they should have some Wolf Creek or Kapalua layouts on steroids that are bordering provocative. I love the PGA Tour and keep up with it throughout the year but I'm out if it feels the same.

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I'd suggest watching the youtube I posted right above you. It doesn't appear they will be playing any real courses.

They made their own fictitious courses to match the stadium layout for chipping / putting. So fairly extreme courses that look real, but are more golden tee in extremism.

How much to rent for 1 afternoon with 3 buddies

It's going to be entertaining. I hope they don't force interviews down our throat like the matches on TNT always do. Just let them play golf on made up courses and let the competitiveness of the players take over.

I watched that same preview today and it has me interested now. I love the shot clock.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikmatuszewski/2025/01/03/10-things-to-know-about-the-new-tgl-golf-league/

Reading this, it's oddly LIV like with teams and sponsors and equity groups and team / individual play. Pretty hypocritical all things considered.

I'm kind of stoked for this to start. Seems like a good idea to get us offseason golf from names we know in a style that is substantially different from what the PGA or LIV offers. It's like real life golden tee. Love the shot clock too, especially for putting. I think it would actually be fun to see live. Normally, you get one shot from a pro at an event before they are moving on and you have a choice to stay or go. Here, you would see every shot.

AgLA06 said:

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikmatuszewski/2025/01/03/10-things-to-know-about-the-new-tgl-golf-league/

Reading this, it's oddly LIV like with teams and sponsors and equity groups and team / individual play. Pretty hypocritical all things considered.

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Yeah except it's actually going to be commercially viable. Also the primary purpose of the league isn't to launder the image of an authoritarian regime that suppresses free speech, executes gays, etc. But yeah… aside from that, it's basically LIV

I am also psyched for the TGL broadcast tonight

I'm definitely intrigued. Everyone who's been there says the setup is incredible and some of the holes look interesting. I like the idea of pros trying to play golden tee holes in real life. My biggest question is whether these guys are willing/able to cut up/be entertaining.

I'm excited for tonight and even my wife commented earlier that she wants to watch it.

Just like LIV other than they won't see televised Pickleball on another channel get 2X the ratings like LIV did a few months ago

I'm intrigued to watch it but I can't say the format sounds very exciting. Who knows though, maybe it will work

I'm all decked out in my The Bay gear, ready to go

I think this isn't going to hold my interest, but I'll watch to see.

I think this is going to fall flat on its face.

Nickelodeon Guts for PGA players. Big missed opportunity not having Mo down there for interviews.

Wonder if Fitzpatrick is going to record all of these shots like his regular rounds.

It would be cool if one of the courses they play is some muni goat ranch with hard dirt patches littering the fairway and greens that just been punched.