We're back for an update on the power rankings for TGL, now that every team has finally played a match this season. Now, minor spoiler alert: there is a bit of change from the preseason rankings, and that comes down to all of the alternate players that have played this season.
Last season saw two alternate players play across the entire season, but this year has already given us four. It's good for TGL to keep cycling in new faces; it'll help keep drawing in new potential fans of the league and keep the player pool from getting stale.
A lot of people have been worried about the TGL ratings being so low in comparison to last season, but realistically, I don't think there's any real reason to worry right now. Last year, you were getting all the big debuts and isolation from larger sporting events.
This year, they stuck the opening match of the season directly up against Week 17 of the NFL and the greatest bowl game in the world: the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The season just started in a tough time for golf to make noise against the rest of the sports landscape, and I think the league will be fine throughout this season, especially as the Tour starts up. Enough prognosticating about the future of the league, let's get into some rankings!
6. Jupiter Links GC (0-1-0, no change)
Jupiter Links is truly like if the Savannah Bananas became an actual expansion team in the MLB. They had Akshay Bhatia come in for their first match as an alternate, and while Akshay definitely showed some juice in the dome, this team is just not it. Lucky for them, a certain Florida man is rejoining the PGA Tour soon, and maybe Brian Rolapp can force him into some TGL matches as like community service to continue his payment for his crimes.
They're parading Tiger around like a mascot while he's injured, while Kevin Kisner still actively plays matches for this team. I don't know why this team hasn't changed more, but I've kind of run out of words on how bad they are in comparison to the rest of the league.
5. The Bay Golf Club (0-1-0, -1)
Someone needs to page Dr. Chipinski, STAT. I wouldn't say that I'm the biggest Min Woo Lee fan in the world, but I can't deny that The Bay feels like I completely different team with him out there. You can't be relying on Wyndham Clark to bring the charisma (by the way, I watched Wyndham Clark play on the Celebrity Poker Tour, and I just don't like his vibe at all.
He wins a hand where he has pocket aces and one of the other players goes all-in blind, and he acts like he just bluffed Phil Ivey with 7-2 off suit. Get over yourself and fix the Oakmont locker you broke.
The talent level on this team is too high for them to be performing this badly, especially from Ludvig Aberg. I may be overrating his TGL abilities, but he should be perfect for the simulators. I want this team to be better, but I'm afraid they just don't have the right mentality for the dome.
4. New York Golf Club (1-1-0, -3)
The most interesting part of New York is that Xander Schauffele, their supposed top player, is just not good in TGL play (or it may be that he's just not interested in the whole thing and doesn't care). If Xander is checked out, then the floor of this team really falls off a cliff.
The first match against Atlanta was always going to be tough for New York, and I don't really consider a win against Jupiter Links anything to write home about. I'm hopeful that Steve Cohen has something up his sleeve in terms of a strong alternate so that we're not trying to force Rickie Fowler, in the year of our Lord 2026, to be a main contributing factor to this team. Maybe Bo Bichette can fill in now after signing his deal with the Mets. Overall, I just haven't been impressed by them at all this year.
3. Los Angeles Golf Club (0-1-0, -1)
You do have to hand it to Los Angeles playing their hearts out to the buzzer in their opening match this season, but much like New York, they need a strong alternate to come in and change up some of their mojo. Honestly, they should just bring in Brad Dalke as the alternate, he's already an investor in the team.
The main issue is that they didn't have Tommy Fleetwood in their first match. If Fleetwood is in that lineup over Sahith Theegala, LA wins the match. They'll find the balance as their team members become fully available for the season, but what is their true ceiling if not having one guy in the lineup throws them off so much?
2. Boston Common Golf (1-0-0, +3)
I am proud to report that reports of the death of Boston Common Golf have been greatly exaggerated. There was a massive shift in vibes during the opening match, and the biggest change was getting true Massachusetts blood on the team in Michael Thorbjornsen, and not just banking on stolen valor Keegan Bradley and his Vermont nonsense.
Am I overreacting to the first win in franchise history? Almost definitely. But the vibes are so high right now. We have a mascot and everything now! They finally look like the title challengers that they should have been all last season, and I can't wait to see where this team goes from here.
1. Atlanta Drive GC (2-0-0, no change)
They are just perfectly built for this environment. I don't know how Arthur Blank was able to craft the perfect team for TGL, but he managed to pull it off. Even slotting in Chris Gotterup has been a masterstroke, he's been a great fit for the team (Corey Conners not so much during the first match, but seems like that was a bit more of a one-time deal).
Much like Jupiter Links, there's not much more to say about this team other than them going back-to-back almost feels inevitable this year. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Justin Thomas comes back from injury, but they seem like they didn't lose a step during the offseason.