The fourth night of the TGL was a night of firsts.
Not only did the showdown between Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf and Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club give us our first TIO ruling in the simulator league (not a joke), but it also gave us our first glimpse at one of the high-tech league’s unique rules.
On the par-3 5th hole at the Sofi Center Monday evening, Kevin Kisner hit his tee shot to the top of a ridge on the back part of the green. On the simulator, the ball stopped on the slope, much to Kisner’s chagrin. But when Jupiter Links went to place the ball on that portion of the green, they unsurprisingly couldn’t get the ball to stay in place, given the severity of that part of the green.
“We got hosed out of nine feet there,” Kisner said as he attempted to get the ball to stay in place on the slope.
This allowed Jupiter Links to place the ball on a flatter spot on the green that was, according to rules expert Mark Russell, in a “position not near the hole.”
“When the player could not get his ball to come to rest,” Russell explained, “he had to go to a position not nearer to the hole where it would come to rest. So that’s what they did. Just came down the slope a little bit and placed it in a position not nearer.”
Boston and Jupiter ended up tying the hole, but the ruling points out an early issue with TGL — the technology hasn’t always been spot on. Given where Kisner’s ball landed on the simulator, it should have rolled back down the slope. That’s something that the league should be able to clean up as it gets going.
The mix-up also puts the high-tech green and its severity under the spotlight. Through three weeks, we’ve seen some of the world’s best golfers struggle with the speed of the green, often failing to stop 20-footers within 5 feet. While Kisner’s ball should have rolled back down the green on the simulator, the fact that they were unable to place the ball even near the landing spot shows how slippery TGL’s green is, and how it might need to be tweaked going forward.
All in all, Monday night was a better night for TGL as the league’s two needle-movers added some juice and entertainment to a product that has had its ups and downs during the first three weeks.
