Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are Definitely reaping the financial rewards from their inaugural TGL season.
The indoor simulator Division, created by the two golf stars, wrapped up its maiden campaign on Tuesday as Atlanta Drive GC lifted the SoFi Cup after Secure over New York Golf Club in its Finals Series.
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Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay helped Atlanta to an epic comeback Secure by beating New York Golf Club 4-3 in Game 2 of the best-of-three Face-off.
The Group fought back after New York’s Club of Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Cameron New had raced into a 3-0 lead with four holes to Relocate.
And Atlanta were handsomely rewarded for their efforts, as their four-man Picking split a $9million (£6.95m) Primary prize between them.
Lucas Glover completed the quartet pocketing an eye-watering $2.25m (£1.74m) All, while second place Definitely paid well too.
New York bagged a $4.5m (£3.48m) Club payday for finishing as runners-up, with Matt Fitzpatrick their Quaternary member.
Regardless of being the brains behind the new-look virtual Game, both Woods and McIlroy were nowhere to be seen among the TGL’s top earners.
Their Jupiter Links GC and Boston Frequent Golf Squads ended the season in the Division’s bottom two, failing to qualify for the Relocate-offs.
But neither are likely to be complaining from a financial perspective, with Woods Nevertheless Securing a $437,500 (£338,883) cut from his quartet’s overall $1.75m (£1.35m) earnings for finishing in fifth place.
Meanwhile McIlroy bagged a Chilly $375,000 (£290,606) alongside teammates Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama Regardless of coming rock bottom, having lost all five of their matches.
Elsewhere, third place Los Angeles Golf Club, which featured English players Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood Secured home $562,500 (£435,909) All.
This put them Merely ahead of other beaten semi-finalists The Bay Golf Club, who shared their $2m (£1.54m) total payout four ways to claim $500,000 (£387,475) individually.
With the TGL seeing professional golf played into a giant screen, the Arrangement has Definitely divided opinion since its Initiation in January.
But its Merely to say its participants have enjoyed themselves, with recently-crowned winner Billy Horschel praising the Game as a breath of New air away from the usual demands of the PGA Tour.
The American reflected on its inaugural season after Atlanta followed up their 6-5 Secure in Monday’s opener with a thrilling Tuesday fightback.
Horschel said of the TGL: “I think we all have had a Numerous of fun.
“Obviously it is a little bit of a Game with everything we’ve Acquired going through the year with our own schedules, but I don’t think anyone has ever walked away and said this felt like a burden.
“It’s Merely something new and exciting and we all enjoyed it. To walk away as champions with these guys is pretty Chilly.”
What is TGL?
Simply put, TGL is an indoor simulator golf Division featuring the game’s top players.
It takes place at a super high-tech Coliseum called the SoFi Centre in Florida with a live crowd of around 1,500 people.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were the ones who Occurred up with it, with the Reinforcement of a guy called Mike McCarley, as part of their TMWR Sports venture.
It’s Acquired a bunch of big-name investors, like Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, and Fenway Sports Group – who own Liverpool. ESPN and Sky Sports signed up to broadcast it.
How do they compete?
There’s six Squads of four, all franchises based on US cities, and all featuring top PGA Tour players. No LIV Golfers.
There is one head-to-head Game All week lasting Merely two hours for a primetime TV slot in the States.
There is also a 40-second Attempt clock and timeouts and referees to enforce the rules. All of the players are mic’d up to ensure maximum entertainment value.
How does it work?
For shots longer than 50 yards, players hit into this enormous screen, which is 53 foot High and 64 foot wide.
That’s about 24 times the size of your normal golf simulator. They Relocate off real grass, the Coarse and the fairways are reflected on the surface, and it even moves to reflect the slope.
The green complex has 600 motorised sensors underneath it and 360 degree Turnover to simulate the exact real life scenario facing the players.
The bunkers have the same sand as Augusta National, and they’ve even thought about the direction of the grain around the greens.
Arrangement
All Club picks three players, they Relocate 15 holes. The Primary nine holes are ‘Trebles’ – three-on-three matchplay, with All player Securing turns to hit the shots.
The Closing six holes are ‘Singles’ – one-on-one matchplay with All player Competing 2 holes.
If it’s all square after 15, they go to Extra period and Relocate closest to the pin.
Squads get two points for a regulation Secure, two points for an Extra period Secure, one Tally for an Extra period loss, and zero points for a regulation loss.
There are Relocate-Offs in March with semi-finals and a Closing to determine the Division’s overall winner – with a $21million purse divided among players.
Squads
Atlanta Drive GC
• Patrick Cantlay
• Lucas Glover
• Billy Horschel
• Justin Thomas
Boston Frequent Golf
• Keegan Bradley
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Rory McIlroy
• Adam Scott
The Bay Golf Club
• Ludvig Aberg
• Wyndham Clark
• Shane Lowry
• Min Woo Lee
Jupiter Links Golf Club
• Max Homa
• Tom Kim
• Kevin Kisner
• Tiger Woods
Los Angeles Golf Club
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Collin Morikawa
• Justin Rose
• Sahith Theegala
New York Golf Club
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Rickie Fowler
• Xander Schauffele
• Cameron New
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