Wyndham Clark kicks off new TGL golf league

Clark is one of six pros playing in first match of new Tiger/Rory golf league TGL Presented by Sofi

By Jim Bebbington

The new indoor golf league TGL Presented by Sofi held its first match Tuesday and Colorado’s Wyndham Clark was on center stage.

TGL stands for TMRW Golf League and is a new venture backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Matches are played indoors at the TGL’s state-of-the-art studio and pit two three-player teams against each other in two-hour made-for-TV competitions. The league features six teams and two will play each week on competitions broadcast on ESPN through March.

The game’s top players are signed up, including Clark, Tiger and Rory.

Clark is an inaugural member of the team The Bay Golf Club, along with Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry and Min Woo Lee. Tuesday they blew out The New York Golf Club’s Matt Fitzgerald, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler. Lee sat this competition out, with the Bay winning 9 points to 2.

What is the game?

Matches are played at the indoor studio SoFi Center, an arena built on the grounds of Palm Beach State College in Florida. In each match teams will begin with alternate-shot competitions as teams for nine holes, then go head-to-head for holes 10 to 15. Teams gain points by winning holes, and there are multipliers available to make some holes more point-worthy than others. Teams with the most points at the end of the round win.

What are they playing? The players will be playing simulator golf, but unlike anything seen before. The holes are fanciful – 600 yard double doglegs in wild environments; 450-yard par fours played over canyons. After driving into a five-story tall screen to reach the green, the players move onto an actual green in the studio to putt.

Why?

This is part of the PGA Tour’s response to the creation of LIV, which claimed to provide an alternative to the Tour’s staid, traditional format. With matches scheduled through early March, it will give players exposure during the mid-weeks of the winter months before the on-grass major season kicks off with the Masters. Depending upon broadcast ratings and streaming views, the new league and its format could just be the beginning.

Because of the schedule, players will still be able to take part in the PGA Tour’s on-grass events on the weekends.

When?

The next match is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, on ESPN and ESPN+.