The past twelve months have had a little bit of everything: a Grand Slam career, Ryder Cup chaos and much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.
No. 15 — The putter motion without torque | No. 14 — ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ takes the golf world by storm | No. 13 — Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026) | No. 12 — JJ Spaun kills Oakmont | No. 11 — The internet invitation | No. 10 — Jeeno Thitikul’s record year | No. 9 — Tiger Woods’ next role | No. 8 — Tommy Fleetwood breaks through
Biggest Golf Moments of 2025 #7: TGL Debut
I’ll never forget the second-hand fear I felt the night of January 7, as I stood on the artificial turf at the SoFi Center and watched Ludvig Aberg warm up for TGL’s opening match. I was surrounded by several golf influencers, all about 40 feet from Aberg, with loud music and TGL participants thinking.
I wasn’t nervous about Aberg’s involvement in this fledgling mixed-reality competition – he seems tailor-made for it, with his sky-high ball flight, fast pace of play and robotically perfect swing. I was more nervous about what was behind him. Twenty feet away from Aberg, standing all alone with his arms folded, in sneakers and a hoodie, was an extremely contemplative Tiger Woods. The golf GOAT could look around at the crazy things going on in the then-under-construction facility, but he chose to look at Aberg. Swing after swing after swing.
Perhaps it makes sense that Woods would prefer to narrow his focus amid the hoopla surrounding TGL’s launch night. There was so much news that it was difficult to take it all in. The opening introductions, the lights, cameras and action, the THUMP Than THUD cadence of the game. This was golf like we’ve never seen it before, and it was a blast to be there in person, among billionaire franchisees and professional VIPS athletes. We quickly learned what the Screen Zone was and how it differed from the Green Zone. We learned what The Hammer was and why a pulsating heartbeat blared through the speakers during some putts. The speed of the gameplay forced you to speak the same language as Matthew Barrie, ESPN’s play-by-play announcer, who explained TGL’s quirks to everyone at home.
After being introduced to a Lil’ Jon song, Shane Lowry hit the first tee shot, which felt a lot less like the beginning of something and more like the end of a long, dangerous journey. Remember TGL’s first announcement? That was in the summer of 2022. Do you remember the temporary structure that was built for TGL? That was torn apart during hurricane force winds in the winter of 2023, causing a 12-month delay. The people behind TGL called it a blessing in disguise because it paved the way for the construction of a permanent fantasy factory that will only continue to grow in use over time.
The 2025 TGL season felt like the massive simulator was for Pros only. Maybe an influencer or two. NFL MVP Josh Allen got to use his bachlor side for some swings. But now all the media have been using the facility during the march towards the upcoming second season, not to mention the weekly test matches to ensure the new and improved technology is ready for the restart on December 28. You can only dream of the company outings that will fill the space in the coming years.
But it’s here, on December 23, that it’s worth taking a look back at what TGL looked and felt like 11.5 months ago — especially when two intrepid GOLF.com employees flew down to document the good, bad and ugly of it. There was definitely that Tiger-staring-at-Aberg moment. But there was a bigger assessment of what was possible in mixed reality, made for TV golf futures. We had to see it for ourselves to understand why 24 of the best golfers in the world were interested in participating.
There were undoubtedly some bumps and bruises along the way. Such as getting live insight from players with a microphone to the actual fans in the stands, and not just the people watching at home. TGL likes to think that they’ve made significant adjustments to make season 2 even better than the first. We’ll see if they can live up to these claims. For now, here’s a good reminder of what launch night was like:
“>
#scenes #launch #TGL #golf #stories #year