For nearly a century, golfers and followers related workforce play with worldwide competitions, such because the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup.
LIV Golf has since modified that. When it launched in 2022, the Saudi-backed circuit included a workforce component. 13 squads now exist, every with its personal distinct model and brand. A few of them have even scored sponsorship offers.
Golf’s newest enterprise, TGL, has additionally embraced workforce play. The indoor golf league options six groups, every with 4 PGA Tour execs. In contrast to LIV, TGL focuses on geography, with groups from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Atlanta, and Jupiter, Florida, all part of the league. Granted, these groups don’t function out of these locales, as all of them compete on the SoFi Heart in South Florida. However TGL needed to lean into these markets to garner consideration and spur rivalries between cities like New York and Boston.
Think about if LIV Golf had its personal TGL workforce.
In spite of everything, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton dedicated to becoming a member of TGL earlier than bolting to LIV a yr in the past. However Rahm and Hatton can not play TGL matches since they jumped to LIV. Solely PGA Tour members can.
Regardless of that, Mike McCarley, a TGL founder alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, advised Josh Carpenter of Sports activities Enterprise Journal that, “Sure, completely,” he had an inventory of potential LIV gamers on his thoughts.
So who may that be?
Rahm and Hatton are probably on that listing.
Rahm, now a two-time main winner, is without doubt one of the hottest gamers on the planet. He may even be remembered as the most effective gamers of his era, whether or not he wins one other main or not. Hatton is a top-20 participant, however the unfiltered Englishman additionally waxes poetic together with his phrases on the course all too usually — not in an acceptable means both. That makes him extremely entertaining as a result of no one is aware of what’s going to come from Hatton’s mouth. That, coupled together with his capability to contend at majors routinely, makes his play appointment viewing. Rahm has had his truthful encounters with a scorching mic, too, which might make each of those gamers notable additions to TGL. It’s an leisure product, at the start, and what higher option to entertain than to have these two fiery and aggressive personalities?
Add Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, and you should have a LIV Golf workforce of DeChambeau, Koepka, Rahm, and Hatton.
Discuss fireworks.
DeChambeau is at the moment the preferred participant on the planet, not named Tiger Woods, due to his exponential rise in YouTube subscribers and social media followers. He has turn into a cultural icon, capturing movies with the President of the US and making an attempt hole-in-one tries over his home. His presence in a TGL match would solely enhance rankings and assist it in the long term.
Koepka, in the meantime, is a five-time main champion and nonetheless one of the formidable gamers on the planet. He has a direct, considerably abrasive persona and infrequently tells you precisely how he feels. His nonchalant nature would make it gratifying for followers to listen to a TGL match.
In fact, contemplating the divisive nature of professional golf, a LIV Golf workforce getting into the TGL sphere would ship shockwaves throughout the game. A rivalry would rapidly come up, and the LIV workforce would undertake an “us-against-the-world” mentality. That may entertain golf followers all over the place, as Rahm, Hatton, DeChambeau, and Koepka can be the brand new children on the block that no one would need to mess with.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
