Tiger Woods ex coach urges TGL commentators to pipe down and players to give banter

Tiger Woods' former long-time golf coach Hank Haney believes TGL will only prove a hit with PGA Tour fans if the players are able to show their personalities and the announcers quieten down. 

Haney made his feelings be known on X / Twitter some 48 hours after watching the first TGL match take place at the SoFi Center in Florida.

The Bay GC consisting of Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg and Wyndham Clark defeated New York GC's Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler by a commanding scoreline of 9-2. 

Woods' Jupiter Links GC are in action next week against Los Angeles GC, which comprises Collin Morikawa. 

Rory McIlroy's Boston Common GC will clash with Woods' Jupiter GC on 27 January. 

TGL - Tomorrow Golf League - is the brainchild of both Woods and McIlroy and their co-founder at TMRW Sports, Mike McCarley. 

But Haney, best known for his work with Woods between 2004 and 2010, is not fully convinced by TGL at least at this very moment in time. 

He believes there was not enough banter exchanged between the players in the opening match between The Bay and New York. 

At least there might have been had the announcers piped down a bit. 

Woods was in the commentary box in the early stages of the first match.

McIlroy was watching on in the crowd. 

"All the banter that everyone says is going to happen on made for TV golf never happens," tweeted Haney.

"Somehow they need the TGL players to show their personalities and for the announcers to be quiet, then it will be more fun to watch. 

"Just hitting golf shots isn’t going to get it."

Lowry did produce one rather comical moment when he claimed he was "going to the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf."

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In a NUCLR Golf poll off the back of the first match of TGL, just under 50% of fans thought TGL was okay. 

A total of 27% of fans thought it was amazing, while only 7% thought it was awful. 

Despite Haney's comments, TGL bosses will likely be in a bullish mood after the opening night as 3.2m unique viewers tuned in on ESPN. 

Zoomph reported the first contest averaged 1.2m viewers throughout the entire broadcast.

Viewership peaked at 1.1m between 9.15pm and 9.30pm ET, according to the report. 

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Woods won six major titles under Haney's tutelage, but they later split in acrimonious circumstances.

Haney recently admitted he thinks it's easier than ever to now win on the PGA Tour as a result of many big-name players moving to LIV Golf. 

He believes the PGA Tour has taken too long to "evolve and address its issues" following the emergence of the Saudi bankrolled LIV Golf League in 2022. 

Haney also considers the game is struggling to adapt with Woods, now 49, no longer competing regularly on the PGA Tour due to his combination of injury woes. 

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