TGL returned with an epic triple-header that produced an array of highlights but none better than Tommy Fleetwood’s two mind-blowing shots and Min Woo Lee’s memorable debut.
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Fleetwood delivered the moment of the day early in the piece when he made the first hole-in-one on the simulator at the SoFi centre in Florida, and it came on a driveable par 4.
But the Englishman’s albatross came too early, as he made it in the warm-up.
Fleetwood pumped a drive into the massive simulator screen, targeting the green on a 312-yard par 4, and his ball hit a rock just short of the green, pinged off and trickled into the cup.
The ace sparked a mixture of celebrations and laughter as there is no doubt Fleetwood, who finished tied fifth at the Genesis Invitational yesterday, copped plenty of jokes about not doing it in the real thing.
Although, he did go close to replicating the ace in his Los Angeles Golf Club’s match against Atlanta Drive.
Fleetwood flew his drive beyond the rock on the same hole and without the assistance of the big bounce, rolled the ball onto the green to set up an eagle putt.
It was not as spectacular as his warm up shot, but impressive nonetheless.
He had the arena pumping later on however, as the crowd which included Los Angeles investor and 23-time tennis grand slam champion Serena Williams jumped off their feet, when Fleetwood holed his shot in the overtime closest to the pin competition.
But Fleetwood’s stunning chip-in was not enough to claim victory as his Los Angeles teammates, Justin Rose and Sahith Theegala let him down in their head-to-head shots, with Atlanta securing the win after trailing 5-2 in regulation before a Justin Thomas chip-in at the final hole of regulation time levelled things up.
The outcome of the tiebreaker sparked plenty of debate on social media.
TGL showed a willingness to change rules to improve the contests on the fly with their changes to ‘The Hammer’ – teams previously had to hold ‘The Hammer’ to wager a hole for double points, but teams now get three each – and fans, as well as some players want a chip-in in the closest to the pin competition to become an automatic victory.
“Maybe rule change, if you hole it in the overtime, it’s a walk-off win the whole team,” Rose said.
In the second match of the day, Australian Lee stepped out for The Bay Golf Club for the first time in their 6-5 win against Atlanta Drive.
Lee is a showman, and there was little doubt he would provide plenty of highlights on the microphone and with his stroke play.
The 26-year-old did not disappoint with a trademark chip-in from the edge of the green the highlight of his maiden appearance.
He also dazzled fans by registering some insane ball speed numbers including a 191mph drive that led to him boasting “is that the record?” as he walked back to his bag.
“I got this thing on social media, when you’re feeling sick you’ve got to call the doctor, so the Dr. Chip-inski. You got it?” Lee said.
“Yeah, it was just one thing that I did on social media, and for some reason I’m just chipping in every week.”
But the biggest bomb off the tee belongs to his teammate Ludvig Aberg.
The Swede was a little weary eyed after claiming his second PGA Tour victory by birding four of his last six holes to win the Genesis Invitational less than 24 hours before hitting his opening shot into the simulator, but the fatigue did not stop him from launching the biggest drive in TGL history.
Aberg’s 360-yard monster drive came playing singles against Rory McIlroy as part of the third match of the day between The Bay and Boston Common.
The Bay took the win 5-4 courtesy of a clutch, walk off putt from Wyndham Clark at the final hole to seal victory.
It capped off an action-packed day which the golf world in large seemed to be in agreeance was the best yet, with the new hammer rules in particular branded a big success.
TGL is in action again on Wednesday at 11am AEDT when Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links take on New York Golf Club.
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