TGL’s Final Grade: Additive At Best, Cringey At Worst

The inaugural TGL season came to a close last night with the Atlanta Drive defeating New York Golf Club, two games to none, to win the first championship.

We’ve been talking a lot about the new tech-infused simulator league around the MyGolfSpy office over the past few months. Some of us watched a few minutes and never went back. Some of us have been mildly entertained by it (or at least put the broadcast on as background noise). Some of us attended an event and enjoyed the experience.

All of us have been critical of the inferior technology they are using to make this whole league run.

But now that we are at the end of the first season, it’s time to take real stock of how the league performed. Where is thing headed?

My final grade for TGL is a B-minus. While the league is a net positive for professional golf, it feels like it has a high floor with a low ceiling.

TGL was additive at times, creating viral moments and fun matches that occasionally shined an interesting light on player personalities. The finale was fun. The league is relatively harmless and totally unserious. If you don’t want to watch, you aren’t passing on much. However, enough people watched to give confidence that TGL will be a part of the pro golf landscape for at least another few years.

At the same time, TGL regularly made me cringe. Between faulty sim readings, the monotony of watching balls being hit into a screen and the whole thing feeling very forced from a comedic perspective, I kept having the urge to change the channel.

Here are five positives and five negatives from the opening year with a look ahead to 2026.

What went right for TGL

1. TV ratings were respectable

TGL’s opening season featured solid but unspectacular TV ratings that generally improved upon the previous ESPN programming in those same time slots.

TGL is already well ahead of LIV Golf in terms of viewership. While it will likely never keep pace with the traditional PGA Tour product, TGL attracted enough eyeballs on TV and social media to be labeled a ratings success in season one.

Given the amount of money being poured into this—and the powerful people who are investing in it—they can definitely go forward with confidence heading into year two.

The floor is high from a ratings perspective because of ESPN and Tiger Woods, even if the ceiling might be low (more on that in a moment).

2. The pace was outstanding

We all know the many slow play issues that plague professional golf.

No such problem exists in TGL. Faced with a 40-second shot clock, players raced through the 15-hole matches without meandering pre-shot routines.

It’s valuable to have a two-hour TV window without constant interruption. The pace did a good job at maintaining momentum, particularly when a match came down to the wire.

The Tour could learn a thing or two from TGL’s breakneck pace.

3. It punched above its weight with viral moments

While not everyone sat down to watch TGL broadcasts in their entirety, several viral moments performed favorably on social media.

Whether it was Kevin Kisner blading a shot off the flagstick, Tiger accidentally hitting a wedge on a shot that necessitated a mid-iron or Tom Kim failing at a no-look celebration, there were a few lightning bolts of entertainment that got people talking.

I think the “hot mic” segments were better utilized as the season went on which led to more entertaining tidbits in the moment that could also be used as snackable social media content.

If nothing else, Golf Twitter generally had a good time talking about TGL, a stark departure from the argumentative cesspool that it tends to be.

TGL’s viral moment-producing prowess might be its best asset heading into next year.

4. The hammer rule change worked swimmingly

A big concern early on for TGL was the lack of close matches. Without anything on the line, the broadcasts got bleak and boring in the second hour.

However, a mid-season rule change that gave teams three hammers each turned the tide and produced much closer matches.

The hammer is something a team can throw to double the points available for that hole. If accepted, the winning team earns two points. If declined, the hole is forfeited and the winning team gets one point.

It’s meant to be thrown when one team has an advantage and wants to capitalize on that.

Most of the teams didn’t utilize the hammer properly at the beginning but began to adapt as the season progressed.

The volatility helped create closer matches and allowed teams to make dramatic comebacks, something TGL desperately needs.

We saw this during the championship matches as Atlanta utilized hammers to make multiple comebacks.

5. The golf and sports community showed serious support

A lot of people rallied around TGL which is one of the main reasons I highly doubt the league will be going away any time soon.

Yes, it’s a lot of brands and people who have a financial interest in the project. But interest was also high from celebrities attending, YouTube golfers and a variety of others.

That support translated to a better in-arena environment as the season went along which translated to more energy with the TV product as well.

On the player side, I think there was great buy-in from guys like Justin Thomas and Billy Horschel. And we are bound to see the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler join at some point. Perhaps an arena being built in Dallas could secure their services.

The golf and sports community is not going to let TGL die a slow death.

What went wrong for TGL

1. The tech was unreliable

I won’t beat this dead horse much further but the TGL tech faltered several times and featured many unrealistic bounces.

After initial speculation that TGL could be fertile ground for gambling, that notion has been swatted down by unreliable technology. Betting on something like this would be insane although I’m sure some people still do it.

This has cemented TGL as being unserious from a competition standpoint so all of the weight is on the entertainment element.

2. But the entertainment side was fleeting at best

While there were a few viral moments and some close matches, repeatedly watching golfers hit into a screen and play short-game shots on a weird artificial green complex often gave an empty feeling.

And the hole designs were decidedly mediocre and limited so that didn’t give us much entertainment, either.

TGL often reminded me of arena football or a spring football league. The product had its moments but what is the hook to watch when those rare moments aren’t happening?

The players are laughing with each other and don’t have intensity so it’s not the seriousness of the competition. It’s not the entertainment of seeing golf shots being hit.

So why am I watching this?

I don’t think there is a major fix to be made. TGL is what it is—which is fine but largely uninspiring.

3. The broadcast is a little clunky

The two-hour TV window is too long. In a perfect world, TGL would turn into something more like this Good Good match that took place in the same arena—but I know that won’t happen.

My suggestion would be to keep the same TV window but to split each night into three six-hole matches with the same two teams playing each other. You get more golf—and blowouts would be almost impossible.

Of course, the commercial sports world doesn’t work like that. I’m guessing we’ll get a similar product for next year.

The other part of the broadcast that bothered me was that it’s one announcer (Matt Barrie) talking directly to the players—but the players only answered back about half of the time. They either ignored him or couldn’t hear him.

Barrie adds nothing other than narrating a match that needs very little of that. It would be great to get someone in there who is funny—or reduce the commentator role significantly.

4. Some of the players are … not funny nor interesting

Maybe this is just me but I feel an awkwardness when someone like Cameron Young shows up to TGL and barely says a word the entire time.

This whole league is dependent on players being entertaining. The pure golf skill doesn’t mean that much because the league is totally unserious.

A few of them are genuinely entertaining but more of them are boring. Or, much worse, they think they are funny.

In a perfect world, we would center TGL around people who are funny regardless of golf skill. We could pair the most entertaining Tour pros with YouTubers, comedians, actors and other funny people.

I’m assuming that won’t happen because …

5. TGL tries too hard to be serious

I’ve mentioned a few times now how TGL is not a serious league. The tech is not serious, the players do not take it seriously—you wouldn’t watch because of the intensity (or integrity) of competition.

Yet TGL seems hellbent on pushing this angle, whether it’s talking about the players having adrenaline/nerves or covering matches in a traditional tone. This happened during the championship match as announcers kept talking about how “focused” and “intense” the players were even as they were joking with the opposition.

There is nothing wrong with not being serious but TGL should lean into the ridiculousness of what they are doing. I maintain that TGL should feel closer to SNL than a Tour broadcast which is why I think the player cast should be diversified and the commentary should be funnier.

This probably won’t happen but a guy can dream.

Final thoughts

TGL will be sticking around for a long time. It has too much support to fall apart easily.

It does have some positives. The league is harmless fun and has some viral moments/close matches that bring out some entertaining moments. People are watching in solid numbers.

In terms of real complaints in the golf world, TGL is not on my list. It’s fine. I enjoyed parts of it but also didn’t feel compelled to watch every week.

It will continue to have a high floor but TGL’s whole premise also gives it a low ceiling.

What grade would you give TGL this season?

Let me know below in the comments.

Top Photo Caption: Atlanta Drive faced New York Golf Club in the championship match of TGL. (GETTY IMAGES/Megan Briggs)