TGL hasn’t taken off as some thought it might. The indoor golf league played on a giant simulator was meant to modernize the game, giving fans unrivaled access to the sport’s biggest stars like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
TGL hasn’t taken off as some thought it might.
The indoor golf league played on a giant simulator was meant to modernize the game, giving fans unrivaled access to the sport’s biggest stars like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Instead, it’s just an afterthought, and the TV ratings show that the league is less popular in season two than it was when it first debuted.
But surprisingly, Chris Gotterup said TGL has helped him on the PGA Tour, as he has gotten off to the best start to a season of his pro career.
Chris Gotterup explains how TGL has helped his hot PGA Tour start
Gotterup, usually a slow starter on the PGA Tour, has come firing out of the gates in 2026. He won the Sony Open in his first start of the year, and now he’s leading the WM Phoenix Open after the opening round.
The 26-year-old moved to Florida this offseason so he could work on his game, and that’s had a tremendous effect, but he also mentioned how TGL has helped to keep his game in shape.
After an opening round 63 in round one at TPC Scottsdale, he said, “I think to start the year I really felt like I worked hard in the offseason to get ready for the season.
“TGL in the offseason also, just getting used to adrenaline rush you get inside there and being able to hit shots under pressure has helped me and my game.
“It’s nice to start the year off on a good note.”
Practicing on the range, or the course back home, does nothing to replicate the high-pressure environment of the PGA Tour, so playing on TGL has clearly helped prepare Gotterup for these high-leverage moments.
How Chris Gotterup fixed his biggest weaknesses from 2025
Gotterup went on to say that he identified weaknesses in his game over the offseason and was laser-focused on improving them.
He said, “We went through some stats from last year and obviously I had a great year last year. There were like two or three things that were kind of glaring in terms of losing shots in spots where if I didn’t look at stats I probably would’ve said I did decent at.
“We worked on that, and that was really the only things that we – other than just normal practice. Those were things that I worked on to get ready for this year.”
Gotterup beat Rory McIlroy to win the Scottish Open in 2025, but there were two areas of his game lagging behind the rest: His around the green play and approach play. Those were the only two areas where he lost strokes to the field on the season.
But his offseason work appears to have paid off. Through two events in 2026, he’s gained 0.47 strokes around the green and 0.68 on approach, and is now in contention for his second victory of the year.
Category: General Sports
