Golf

Shane Lowry was the perfect man to kick off TGL’s weird world of volcanoes, U2 and Americans explaining ‘craic’

A beautiful day for golf as reimagined by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy? ESPN’s hearts were certainly a-bloom. But as for the rest of us ...

Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry of The Bay Golf Club during their TGL presented by SoFi match. Photograph: Brennan Asplen/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images
Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry of The Bay Golf Club during their TGL presented by SoFi match. Photograph: Brennan Asplen/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images
Mary Hannigan's picture
Mary Hannigan
Mon Jan 13 2025 - 06:00

You’d wonder when Shane Lowry was honing his golfing skills as a young fellah playing pitch and putt in Clara back in the day, did he ever envision striking a ball over a bubbling volcano in an indoor arena in Florida while U2′s Beautiful Day blasted from the speakers?

If he did foresee this day coming, then there’s a fair chance that magic mushrooms had been ingested at the time, but there he was on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning trying to keep a straight face while he attempted to hit a ball in to a 60-foot tall screen over molten lava while Bono bellowed “the heart is a bloom” in to his ears.

It’s at times like this you’d wonder if you’d ingested magic mushrooms yerself.

In many ways, playing indoor “tech-infused” golf seemed a little like how it might feel to take your four-iron and your soul in to Coppers of a Saturday night and whack balls at a humongous telly on the wall instead of asking someone if they’d like to dance to Nathan Carter’s Wagon Wheel.

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Shane, though, was actually the very perfect man to hit the inaugural ball in this new-fangled Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy creation because he understood that it was all a bit of craic, “Craic On”, incidentally, being the name of one of the virtual holes that featured in the New York Golf Club v Bay Golf Club tussle.

“Craic is an Irish word for having fun and this should be a super fun hole,” said designer Beau Welling, lest any of the viewers to this new-fangled thing think he was promoting the use of an illicit drug.

Shane Lowry of The Bay Golf Club plays a shot on the seventh hole. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images
Shane Lowry of The Bay Golf Club plays a shot on the seventh hole. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images

One man who had no fun at all was Rickie Fowler who did well to even make contact with the 60-foot screen, so wayward were his ball-striking efforts. “It’s not traditional golf, but it IS golf,” Tiger insisted when ESPN had a word with him, Rickie not convinced.

Tiger, it has to be said, looked a little bored when he watched it all from his course-side seat, leaving it to Rory to gush over how fabulous it all was, him being its consummate salesman. DJ Khaled too. “Golf is like life,” he told Marty Smith, “it ain’t easy, but it’s beautiful.”

What Peter Alliss would have made of it, God knows. You’d have a notion he’s revolving in his grave, but you have to doff your cap to ESPN’s efforts to sell it.

“Lights, camera, action, it’s go time,” our presenter Scot Van Pelt declared at the start of the two-hour show, promising us that we were about to witness “reimagined” golf that would tinkle our ivories. And it would no longer, incidentally, be a good walk spoiled, there being not much walking involved at all.

Ludvig Aberg is congratulated by Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark after a putt on the fifth green. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images
Ludvig Aberg is congratulated by Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark after a putt on the fifth green. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/TGL/TGL Golf/Getty Images

That, of course, means that Tiger with his banjaxed hips and legs will be able to star in this reimagined version of the game, ESPN telling us more times than Rickie winced that Tiger would be making his TGL debut next week. Anyone would think he was still the sport’s star attraction.

Mean people have, of course, suggested that Patrick Cantlay would find that shot clock – which ensures that we only have to watch a round of golf for two hours instead of an interminable length of time – traumatising, but it is actually the best thing about TGL: it’s over quickly enough.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a bit of a laugh, it was indeed, and sure look it, we’re always quick to do down efforts to spice up our sporting pleasures.

But? After five minutes, you’d be like, ‘that’s plenty’. Watching lads hitting balls into a five storey screen while having Bono crooning in their ears, and them taking it as seriously as if they were playing Super Mario on their ‘putters ... you wouldn’t be setting the alarm for 1.59am.

A beautiful day for reimagined golf? ESPN’s hearts were certainly a-bloom. The rest of us? Hmm.

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