For nearly a century, golfers and followers related crew play with worldwide competitions, such because the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup.
LIV Golf has since modified that. When it launched in 2022, the Saudi-backed circuit integrated a crew aspect. 13 squads now exist, every with its personal distinct model and emblem. A few of them have even scored sponsorship offers.
Golf’s newest enterprise, TGL, has additionally embraced crew play. The indoor golf league options six groups, every with 4 PGA Tour professionals. In contrast to LIV, TGL focuses on geography, with groups from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Atlanta, and Jupiter, Florida, all part of the league. Granted, these groups don’t function out of these locales, as all of them compete on the SoFi Middle in South Florida. However TGL needed to lean into these markets to garner consideration and spur rivalries between cities like New York and Boston.
Think about if LIV Golf had its personal TGL crew.
In any case, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton dedicated to becoming a member of TGL earlier than bolting to LIV a 12 months in the past. However Rahm and Hatton can’t play TGL matches since they jumped to LIV. Solely PGA Tour members can.
Regardless of that, Mike McCarley, a TGL founder alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, instructed Josh Carpenter of Sports activities Enterprise Journal that, “Sure, completely,” he had a listing of potential LIV gamers on his thoughts.
So who might that be?
Rahm and Hatton are doubtless on that checklist.
Rahm, now a two-time main winner, is without doubt one of the hottest gamers on the earth. He may even be remembered as top-of-the-line gamers of his era, whether or not he wins one other main or not. Hatton is a top-20 participant, however the unfiltered Englishman additionally waxes poetic along with his phrases on the course all too usually — not in an applicable means both. That makes him extremely entertaining as a result of no person is aware of what is going to come from Hatton’s mouth. That, coupled along with his means to contend at majors routinely, makes his play appointment viewing. Rahm has had his truthful encounters with a sizzling mic, too, which might make each of those gamers notable additions to TGL. It’s an leisure product, initially, and what higher option to entertain than to have these two fiery and aggressive personalities?
Add Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, and you’ll have a LIV Golf crew of DeChambeau, Koepka, Rahm, and Hatton.
Speak about fireworks.
DeChambeau is at present the preferred participant on the planet, not named Tiger Woods, due to his exponential rise in YouTube subscribers and social media followers. He has turn into a cultural icon, taking pictures movies with the President of the USA and trying hole-in-one tries over his home. His presence in a TGL match would solely enhance scores and assist it in the long term.
Koepka, in the meantime, is a five-time main champion and nonetheless one of the crucial formidable gamers on the earth. He has a direct, considerably abrasive character and infrequently tells you precisely how he feels. His nonchalant nature would make it satisfying for followers to listen to a TGL match.
In fact, contemplating the divisive nature of professional golf, a LIV Golf crew coming into the TGL sphere would ship shockwaves throughout the game. A rivalry would rapidly come up, and the LIV crew would undertake an “us-against-the-world” mentality. That will entertain golf followers all over the place, as Rahm, Hatton, DeChambeau, and Koepka can be the brand new youngsters on the block that no person would need to mess with.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Comply with him on X @jack_milko.