Takeaways from TGL's long-awaited debut

TGL finally made its debut Tuesday after weather destroyed the event facility last year.

The first match pitted Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, and Matthew Fitzpatrick of New York Golf Club against The Bay's Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, and Ludvig Aberg.

The presentation was excellent at the start, with the fast-paced format and advanced production value resulting in an entertaining product, but the energy dropped significantly throughout the two-hour show, partly because of a blowout win by The Bay Golf Club.

Here are the top takeaways from our first look at the simulator golf league.

Indoor short-game shots are HARD

Tune into a weekly PGA TOUR event and you'll see short-game wizardry from the world's best on every hole. But take these fellas inside and things look eerily similar to what you might see on a Saturday at your local public track. The first five short-game shots from the play around the real green at the SoFi Center left a lot to be desired, and multiple shots from Fowler and Schauffele finished well outside of the expected range. Meanwhile, Lowry, Clark, and Aberg all stuffed full wedges hit into the screen to a couple feet. It will be interesting to see if future teams opt to layup for full wedges into the screen instead of challenging the green and being left with a difficult pitch.

All hail King Ludvig

College or pro, North America or Europe, and now inside or outside. If golf is being played, Aberg is likely going to be dominating the proceedings. There's no doubt that Aberg was the star performer from the opening night of TGL. He got things going in style by pouring in a birdie on No. 1 to register the first point in TGL history, and he peppered flag sticks and drained lengthy putts in a dominant showing. The simplicity of his swing is often described as robotic, so it's no surprise that he's thriving in a tech-based simulator golf league.

Shot clock rules

The best thing about the entire presentation Tuesday night was arguably the 40-second shot clock. The entire event seemed like a race and highlighted just how slow professional golf can be on a week-to-week basis. There was very little time between shots, with the constant action a welcome change from what we usually see on TOUR. The shot clock forced players to have club in hand and a strategy already prepared when it was their turn. It would be tougher to implement outdoors, but the TOUR should absolutely look into getting a shot clock for their events to tighten up the broadcast.

We need more interaction with players

One thing was clear from the broadcast - the players seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, the broadcast didn't involve them enough. The first hour saw Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy join the booth, and while there's no doubt about what the pair adds to a broadcast, their appearances resulted in fewer interactions with players. That hurt the flow of the broadcast significantly and cut out some fun chatter with Schauffele and Lowry.

Speaking of hurting the broadcast, no more DJ Khaled interviews. That rule needs to be applied to all future golf presentations. It does nothing for the product and simply grinds the action to a halt.

The start of the broadcast was excellent, with the lightning-quick alternate-shot format and interactions with the players providing very entertaining content. Future weeks should focus on that.

New York stinker

You can add NYGC's dismal TGL debut to the list of New York sports failures, right behind "The Butt Fumble," the Yankees' collapse in the 2004 ALCS, and essentially anything the Mets have done over the past 30 years.

TGL's top-ranked player, Schauffele, led the way, but NYGC was ultimately a mess Tuesday night. Fowler looked particularly rusty, while Fitzpatrick was booed for missing the green with a wedge early on. The match was never in doubt with The Bay racing out to a 6-0 lead, and things were settled long before the end of the broadcast. The lopsided nature of the match took away from the second hour of the event.

More Xander on the mic

His play wasn't quite as sharp as it's been over the past year, but Schauffele was the most entertaining player of the night. Whether it be the all-DMX soundtrack blaring while he pounded the driver into the screen, or his constant joking about whether to throw the hammer, there was a heightened sense of anticipation whenever he stepped to the mat. We've heard for years from TOUR players that Schauffele is incredibly funny and often the life of the party. That's something TGL can lean on going forward.