Wyndham Clark is not any stranger to the massive stage however on Wednesday the 2023 U.S. Open champion stepped onto one not like another as he helped introduce the venue that can host the tech-infused indoor workforce golf league based by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Throughout a media day at Florida’s purpose-built SoFi Heart the place all TGL matches will happen, Clark, Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel have been enthusiastically launched and arrived on the enjoying floor amid music, smoke and flashing lights.
It was a far cry from the standard participant introductions seen on the first tee of occasions on the PGA Tour, the place Clark is a three-time winner, however TGL is coming into uncharted territory when it launches on January 7.
“That is one thing new and modern that’s going to essentially assist develop the sport of golf,” mentioned Clark. “It is going to give folks a brand new perspective of us in a special area the place it’s extra intimate and also you type of get to see our personalities.”
Following the participant introductions, world quantity 16 Horschel despatched apply photographs on the towering display to point out how the ball reacts as soon as the show takes over. He additionally confirmed how gamers will hit from fairway bunkers, greenside bunkers and putt.
After that, Clark confronted Fowler in a one-hole match throughout which they utilised the 40-second shot clock that will probably be used throughout TGL play and made birdie that, in actual play, would have secured his workforce – The Bay Golf Membership – a degree.
ALSO READ | PGA drops Vegas from subsequent 12 months’s autumn schedule
TGL, based in 2022 by Woods and McIlroy’s TMRW Sports activities in partnership with the PGA Tour, was initially set to launch in January 2024 however was delayed after the dome of the host facility was broken and later changed with a steel-supported construction.
Woods, who is part proprietor of Jupiter Hyperlinks Golf Membership, is anticipated to make his TGL debut on January 14. McIlroy is a part of the Boston Widespread Golf workforce and their first match is January 27 towards Woods’ squad.
The primetime golf league will function six groups of 4 PGA Tour members competing in a fast-paced type of workforce golf and see gamers hit photographs at a five-storey-high simulator display earlier than ultimately shifting to an adjustable placing floor.
“We actually needed to maintain one foot firmly planted within the conventional recreation and there’s a component of that in the event you have a look at the competitors,” mentioned TMRW Sports activities CEO Mike McCarley.
“However with the opposite foot, we needed to try to deliver the sport extra into the long run and embrace know-how, which from the very early conversations with Tiger and Rory each of them shared that thesis.”