Billy Horschel tried to outdo Tiger Woods by creating essentially the most talked about TGL entrance, whereas Justin Thomas put his cash the place his mouth as his Atlanta Drive GC defeated New York Golf Membership 4-0.
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Woods blew up the golf web final week as he emerged from a purple haze to the sounds of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ in an undeniably cool introduction, however Horschel’s model has not been as universally praised.
The eight-time PGA Tour winner was one of the crucial vocal gamers within the lead-up to TGL’s debut earlier this month on how nice the progressive golf league can be, so he was at all times going to make a press release when he acquired the prospect to stroll into the SoFi Centre for his first aggressive match.
Horschel whipped out a series and did the ‘Soiled Chook’ dance that acquired blended opinions on social media.
However Horschel’s antics was precisely what teammate Justin Thomas had requested for in a letter to his fellow PGA Tour’s gamers earlier within the day.
Golf journalist Dan Rapaport revealed on the web site ‘Skratch’ that Thomas had written to his colleagues to encourage them to point out extra character.
“Our Fan Ahead analysis reveals that “on-course character” is the very best ranked driver of curiosity for younger followers (18-34). Getting the youthful age group and watching our sport could possibly be an enormous distinction in our recognition,” Thomas wrote.
“They love the chance to have the ability to have that connection to us as followers, and it humanises us. The extra I’ve watched documentaries and specials on streaming providers on different sports activities, the extra I’ve come to understand the principle motive I really like them a lot is the entry they supply and the perception the gamers are giving me; a fan of them and their craft.
“I had little interest in rooting for sure gamers, groups, coaches earlier than watching a handful of reveals and video games. However the way in which a few of them present their playing cards and the way they go about every little thing makes me a fair greater fan.”
Thomas, who completed runner-up at The American Categorical on Sunday, leaned into this notion solely along with his theatrics throughout his TGL debut.
The 2-time US PGA champion holed a monster par putt, which helped Atlanta forestall New York from profitable a single level all through the match, and repeatedly mentioned ‘uh, oh’ to rub it into his opponents.
Earlier within the evening, he additionally acquired near hitting the digital camera above the simulator that Woods nailed first strive beforehand, after which on the finish of the match he handed the flag to a toddler within the crowd as a memento.
One of many different highlights of the match was New York’s Cameron Younger blasting a 360-yard drive to match the TGL document for greatest bomb off the tee.
For New York, it’s their second successive loss, whereas subsequent week’s match will pit Woods’ Jupiter Hyperlinks GC towards Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott’s Boston Frequent Golf.