Shane Lowry having fun as his team win on debut night for TGL
Shane Lowry of The Bay Golf Club waves as he walks onto the field of play for the inaugural match of the TGL. Picture: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
The TGL simulator golf league promised to be different. It didn’t promise to be good, and the lack of competitive drama in Tuesday night’s debut didn’t help.
A year late due to hurricane damage in 2023 to its facility that was under construction, the new tech-infused TGL finally launched Tuesday with its first team match between the New York Golf Club and the Bay Golf Club. It proved to be landslide, as Shane Lowry’s Bay team dominated Xander Schauffele’s NYGC, 9-2.
“That was as bad as it could have possibly gone for the New York Golf Club today,” said Schauffele.
“Bummer to let my boys down here, and it was a rough go. I heard a couple boos in the crowd when I duffed my chip. … They had good reason to boo. I probably would have booed me, too.”
The first tee shots in TGL history 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ibyeixMNwe
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) January 8, 2025
The debut match offered the first look at the fast-paced, team competition within the custom-built SoFi Center, playing custom-designed futuristic simulation golf holes that played over and around oceans, lagoons, canyons, cliffs and lava pits. The debut had a few golf moments on its hydraulic carousel green and offered a little personality mostly displayed by Lowry and Schauffele, but immediately lop-sided match seemed to suck some of the energy out of the arena.
Bay GC was helmed in the opener by Lowry, Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg, with Min Woo Lee on the bench. The three players representing NYGC in the first match were Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Schauffele, with Cameron Young sitting out. NYGC and Bay GC are the two youngest teams in TGL. The Bay Golf Club’s average age is 29.75 years old even with 37-year-old relative graybeard Lowry on its roster. NYGC’s average age is 31 years.
Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, had the honor of hitting the first tee shot in TGL history on a hole called “The Plank” – a 377-yard, par 4. Lowry foreshadowed his nerves on social media before the match.
“If hitting the first ever shot in @TGL history tomorrow night wasn’t nerve-racking enough, imagine if I miss the 60ft screen,” Lowry posted on X.
He was so nervous he forgot his tee and had to walk back after the 40-second shot clock had started to get one. Broadcast analyst Marty Smith said Lowry admitted he was so rattled he “nearly soiled his pants – only he didn’t say soiled.”
Fun night with the lads 💪🏻 @TheBayGolf @TGL pic.twitter.com/2sKEEcf0MH
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) January 8, 2025
Lowry later was caught on the mic saying he hopes “to be the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf.” Turns out Lowry had nothing to worry about. He striped the opening tee shot down the middle in the three-man alternate-shot format. Clark hit a nice approach and Åberg drained the 9-foot birdie putt to put the first point on the board for Bay GC.
It proved to be the first of many as the Bay boys racked up the first six points. Lowry stuffed an approach close to halve the second and made a short birdie to win the fourth hole. Clark buried an 8-footer for par on the third after dropping the “hammer” to make it worth two points. Åberg holed a long curling bomb on the fifth for maybe the shot of the night and a 5-0 lead. New York finally got on the board to close out the nine holes of three-man alternate shot down 6-1 at intermission.
Lowry faced Fowler in the first of six head-to-head singles holes, and he only needed the one hole to clinch victory for Bay GC in the opening match, 7-1. On the 616-yard par-5 10th, Lowry easily won with a conceded birdie after Fowler drove out of bounds. He later lost his last hole (the 13th) with a bogey after a toe-shank off the artificial turf around the green complex.
“It all happens quite quickly when you’re out there because it’s loud and you’re not kind of used to that,” said Lowry. “But yeah, I enjoyed it. I had an amazing two hours this evening. It’s a lot of fun out there and something we’re not used to. But it was good.”
The match continued all 15 holes as the first postseason tiebreaker is cumulative holes won over the course of the season. Bay banked a lot of points, ultimately winning 9-2.
Lowry said the experience was the most fun he’s had playing golf since the Ryder Cup in 2023.
“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, but this is just something different and something fun,” he said.
“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.”
Forged by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and their TMRW Sports collaboration, both players were in the house as spectators and joined the broadcast.
“I’m excited to do this. This is a dream come true to build something like this and get to be a part of it,” said Woods, who will debut with his Jupiter Golf Club next week.
McIlroy’s Boston Common team will play its first match on Jan. 27 against Woods’ Jupiter team.
“Can’t wait to get started in a few weeks times; there’s been a lot of work put into it and we’re hoping to try to make the playoffs and make a run at it and win this thing in the first season,” McIlroy said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
