1+ million watched!

Walking into the SoFi Center last week, I was blown away. I grew up scrubbing hooks at a small club in New Jersey. Little did I know back then what golf would become today. Approximately 2,000 fans filled the simulator stadium for the inaugural TGL match. The Bay GC gave us a clean 2-0 card as they easily handled the New York GC. Watching live, I have several observations I'll share in the betting breakdown for Match 2. From inside the arena there is no doubt this is a made for television event. I thought it would be popular, but 1M+ on average tuning in the first hour is impressive.

The complete telecast averaged 919,000 viewers as the match was a blowout in the second hour. We can talk/write for hours on what everyone thinks worked or didn't work. Please keep in mind this is a made for TV event and if you were in the building like me, then you have to see it through that lens. I'd lose the pregame/halftime festivities, but overall this format worked and will attract more attention. If they had 1M interested fans last week, what will Tiger Woods playing bring them in week 2?

Match #2 is slated between the Los Angeles Golf Club and the Jupiter Links Golf Club. Fanduel has LAGC as the betting favorite to win (+340) the SoFi Cup in season one. Check my Power Rankings published by Golf Digest last week prior to Match 1. I was 50/50 last week feeling excitement and anxiety. Golf has suffered through too much turmoil the last few years for the TGL to take that negative route and would the technology work on live TV. Thankfully, by midnight when I walked out of the SoFi Center, I was 100% excited. Congrats to team TGL for a solid start, let's see where they take it from here...

Match 2 starts in...

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The format, course, and starting lineups

The TGL format will remain the same all season. If you missed Match 1 or you are curious again, their website does an excellent job of explaining the league rules with quick videos (TGL EXPLAINED). Tiger Woods will hit the first shot Tuesday night as the Jupiter Links GC leads off Match 2. This also means Tiger's team will begin with "The Hammer." There's no doubt the hammer should be a big foam hammer they can throw or hit each other with, but we've only seen one week. I'm sure this will all evolve. Fans would also like to see more hammering, but I believe that will come as the players get more comfortable with the match format. It's not often these guys play Triples!

Keith's "TGL" Keys 🗞️ A couple of key insights you can claim as your own idea at the water cooler and cocktail party conversations. Ball speed?: Length was a huge advantage in Match 1. The green surface: There's only one green. The surface does not change shape after every hole, just week to week. Good putters will get to know the surface throughout the night. Grain & Sand: Around the green played a significant role in Match 1. Players talked a bunch about the difficulty of the synthetic grass grain and the softness of the bunkers. Adaptable ARG skill is a valuable asset!

The second match scorecard will be almost identical to Match 1. Hole 8 is being replaced by another risk reward decision making devil of a design. Maybe the focus group of fans didn't care for the lava?!?! The remaining 14 holes are the same scorecard as last week. If you are curious for all 15 detailed breakdowns click on the Match 2 Scorecard link just below. The card stretches 6,317 yards and plays to a par 60 again. Five par 3s, 4s, and 5s make up the layout and you get one par type in each three hole run. Below you will see a quick summary of the layout.

I imagine they kept the scorecard similar as the tech involved in this arena is ridiculous. It also doesn't hurt to have the audience begin to build a connection with some of these holes. Why do we all love watching the Masters every year, because we know the layout by heart. One player in the starting lineups is pretty popular, but there are five more of the world's elite coming to the SoFi Center tonight. TGL rules call for three on three team match play with each franchise holding one player in reserve. The starting lineups and hole by hole tee shots or H2H matches can all be found using the direct link below.

• Los Angeles Golf Club (-163) - Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose, (Tommy Fleetwood)
• Jupiter Links Golf Club (+125) - Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, (Tom Kim)
• ​Fanduel odds​

As we all familiarize ourselves with the format, these betting narratives will become more and more efficient. I'm not here to discuss the weather in these matches, at least not yet. The TGL leaders were quite savvy saving Woods for week two. There was plenty of interest in week one just from a curiosity point of view. Add in Tiger for Match 2 and we should see a bump in the ratings. Don't let the odds fool you, I think this match will be closer than the first one which will also take the audience deeper into the SoFi night.

Match breakdown

Watching the match live was an awesome experience. We were given the opportunity to sit inside the simulator stadium and/or watch the television broadcast in the media center. I chose more of the live experience. In doing so, there are a couple of observations I was able to make.

• I mentioned short game and putting skill as differentiators. Turns out, both of these aspects controlled the outcome.
• Solid ball striking separates you on the screen. The best ball strikers will excel on the simulator. In the closing press conferences all six players validated the simulator technology saying the shots were very accurate.
• The shot clock played an important role. The members of The Bay GC play quicker on the course than the NYGC and it showed in their ability to be decisive and then perform.
• The pace was much faster than regular televised golf, but it still gave everyone plenty of time to see every shot. I've always said golf has the best competition cadence for live betting. The TGL could be an amazing vehicle for better live coverage of golf and other sports should the league really lean into maintaining time/pace as a massive priority.

On-site PGA insights are going to give us a weekly edge in this brand-new competition. Tonight's match starts with nine holes of Triples. Los Angeles is the better T2G group. You can talk about Tiger winning three WGC Match Play titles and Kisner winning another, but for the first nine holes they aren't playing Los Angeles GC H2H. All three guys will need to deliver, and the west coast team is stronger. Woods and Kisner are unproven in a ball striking sense while Morikawa, Theegala, and Rose currently are. It's not blasphemy at this point to say Tiger has been rusty and Kis might be playing the PGA TOUR as a hobby considering his new NBC gig.

These opening holes can create some quick drama. Throw in a hammer and suddenly you can get behind. Neither team has a decided length advantage here, so approach becomes even more important. Morikawa and Rose will help the young star Theegala navigate the alternate shot holes. There's an argument again for match play prowess and Jupiter Links GC's ability to score from close range. In the end that will keep the match closer than last week, but I do not see an upset. Morikawa just shot 32 under at Kapalua, and Rose just won the Team Cup in Europe. Theegala has played in both The Sentry and Sony Open. On top of the skill advantage, LAGC will also be recently battle tested.

Based upon those elements, I believe Los Angeles gets ahead early and holds the lead through the opening Triples. The H2H card does present some interesting matchups. For example, Tiger and Justin have never played head to head in the Ryder Cup (or elsewhere). This will be their first H2H match after 20+ years of competing on the PGA TOUR. Let's jump to the singles breakdown.

• Woods versus Rose: Serpent (Hole 10) is an accuracy contest. Rose won't be bullied by Tiger's aura; he'll take Hole 10. Straight Up (Hole 13) reminds us of a design that would fit Albany, home of the Hero World Challenge. Woods and Rose both have houses on that property and will be familiar with that layout; they will halve this one.
• Kisner versus Morikawa: We favored Wyndham last week on Alpine (Hole 11) because of his length. His drive caught the speed slot and resulted in the longest tee shot of the night for any player; 360 yards. Morikawa isn't a bomber, but he'll catch a good portion of that roll and be far enough ahead of Kisner to win their first H2H encounter. The second meeting is a 135-yard par 3. Two of the best wedge players over the past five years, there's no way to differentiate the two - On the Rocks (Hole 14).
• Homa versus Theegala: The battle of LA starts with an impressive par 3 called Cliffhanger. I like Sahith's long iron game here. Theegala is a relentless range rat on TOUR, and he loves hitting long irons and his hybrid. The 200-yard approach on this hole is to his advantage. We close again with Quick Draw (Hole 15). The key here is to hit the pedestal fairway and cut off 200 yards. Since changing swing coaches, Homa has been much better off the tee. That will be a huge advantage over Sahith and give him the edge on the final H2H.

It seems Fanduel (and the other books) are taking their time getting involved live in the TGL markets. In talking to them it is a combination of resources and allowing the new league to mature for a couple of weeks. 🚨 Many of you expressed frustration that you could not find even the basic bets I posted last week. The reason for this is that the TGL is not regulated for betting in all legal sports betting states. I know that elicits a myriad of questions since they had an extra year to get prepared for opening night. All I can say is that unlike LIV, they are working diligently on the process and awaiting many state approvals. All of which are happening at a very slow municipal pace. Maybe the TGL should implement a shot clock on them!

I'll be back in the arena next week and look forward to watching live and giving you the best possible PGA insights my eyes can deliver.

Match 2 Card

Match 2 - LAGC vs. JLGC Match winner: Los Angeles GC (-163 FD) Lead after 6-holes: Los Angeles GC (-105 B3) Lead after 9-holes: Los Angeles GC (-120 B3) ​ Follow along for in-game betting tonight on X (Twitter) if markets are posted.

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