Rory McIlroy emphatically denies TGL issue: "I had the same concerns"

Rory McIlroy has suggested there is no evidence TGL's launch monitor is not displaying correct information. 

McIlroy, 35, made his long-awaited debut in the hi-tech league on Monday night and his Boston Common side were defeated in overtime by Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links.

Some TGL participants - such as 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick - have suggested some 'great strikes' are not ending up where they expect. 

Fitzpatrick look visibly perplexed when one approach from a fairway bunker landed considerably short of his intended target. 

Woods also airmailed a wedge 20 yards over the green with a short pitch shot. 

TGL uses a Full Swing launch monitor. 

Unsurprisingly, the company is endorsed by the 15-time major champion and he uses the kit for both personal launch monitors and his home simulator.

McIlroy conceded in his pre-tournament news conference before the AT&T Pebble-Beach Pro-Am that he had some concerns about whether kit was producing reliable data. 

The Northern Irishman also offered a solution for the PGA Tour's slowpokes. 

"So tech wise and numbers wise, look, I've had the same concerns," McIlroy told reporters on Tuesday.  

"I guess, just from I hadn't obviously played a match. I went in there on Wednesday and I brought two other launch monitors with me. 

"I brought my GC Quad, I brought my TrackMan."

He said the numbers were 'virtually identical' with all three. 

"That put my concerns to bed, which was really good," he said.  

"I hit balls in there for 90 minutes. I think the big thing for us is you're hitting into a screen. 

"It's obviously a big screen, but when you're playing outside you've got some sort of connection to the target, right? 

"This is what we grew up doing, this is what we know. 

"So when you get in there, it's very -- it's very difficult or hard to be like OK, I'm going to aim, you know, on the right half of the screen or the left half of the screen and trust that it's actually going to do what you want it to do. 

"Adam [Scott] was in there for the first time on Saturday and I was in there with him. 

"I said you have to really try to treat this as if you're playing outside because you hit it on that right half of the screen and try to hit a draw, like it will come back.

"If you hit a fade on the left side of the screen, it will come back. It's just getting more reps in there to familiarize yourself and trust it I think is the big thing.

"And the more and more that we play in there, the more we're going to get used to it and be comfortable." 

McIlroy said he believed his debut match was the best TGL contest thus far. 

He stressed that there is still a 'novelty aspect' to the simulator league and hopes the fact the players care about the result then the viewers will too. 

McIlroy said ESPN officials are pleased so far with TGL. 

"Hopefully, as we go on, we'll keep refining, keep improving," he said. 

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