Matt Fitzpatrick apologized to his New York Golf Club teammates Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele after messing up his opening shot in TGL on Tuesday.
The first game of TGL took place in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Founded by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in partnership with the PGA Tour, the new indoor league sees some of golf’s biggest stars shoot into a simulator before putting on a green in front of fans.
The SoFi Center, a specially designed venue fitted with state-of-the-art golfing technology, was constructed to host TGL’s inaugural season. Games between teams will take place each week until March, just before the PGA Tour season hits its peak months.
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There was huge expectation at the SoFi Center ahead of Tuesday’s game between New York Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club, a team made up of Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, and Shane Lowry. Woods, McIlroy, and various celebrities watched on in attendance.
The pressure was on former U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick as he hit New York’s second shot of the night, but he scuffed his effort way to the left. That led to jeers and mocking from the crowd, as the Englishman laughed off his mistake on prime time TV.
“I’m just warming up,” Fitzpatrick giggled as he made his way back to his teammates. “Sorry about that,” he added to Fowler and Schauffele. It proved to be a sign of things to come for New York, as The Bay raced into a 6-0 lead in Florida.
Players of The Bay Golf Club enjoyed themselves on Tuesday (
Getty Images)
Golf fans have waited for a while to see TGL become a reality. McIlroy, Woods, and sports executive Mike McCarley announced the formation of TGL in August 2022, with construction of the SoFi Center starting in February 2023 ahead of a 2024 start.
The league was then delayed until 2025 after a storm damaged the arena during construction. Several sports stars have invested in TGL, including Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Josh Allen, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Durant, Shohei Ohtani, and Serena Williams.
Some of the PGA Tour’s biggest players – including Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, and Tommy Fleetwood – have agreed to play in TGL. Yet the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth aren’t involved, nor is anyone from LIV Golf.
“The first thing I would like to have people know is it’s golf, but it’s reimagined, sort of trying to take golf into the 21st century,” said McIlroy. “We have teams, obviously there’s a lot of technology involved, trying to bring it into the digital era. A lot of things that we’ve taken from other sports like a shot-clock, a timeout, things that you don’t see in regular golf.”
McIlroy himself won’t play until his team, Boston Common Golf, takes on Tiger Woods and Jupiter Links Golf Club on Monday, January 27. Woods is set to make his debut when his team takes on Los Angeles Golf Club on Tuesday, January 14.
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