When you align yourself with the Golden State Warriors, you’d better back that up with some game. The Bay Golf Club did exactly that on Tuesday night, walking out clad in Warriors jerseys and then proceeding to dominate Jupiter Links Golf Club 6-3, solidifying their playoff case and pushing Jupiter to the edge of playoff elimination.
TGL faced a bit of an inflection point Tuesday night. It’s no longer a novelty, and that means it must survive on its actual merits, rather than simple curiosity. TGL is also coming off its two worst ratings matches of the season, by far, with 263,000 viewers in Monday’s opening match and 297,000 for the late one … but some context is necessary. Both were on ESPN2, not mothership ESPN or broadcast TV. And both were significant upgrades from the same timeslot last year (57,000 for a studio show early, 125,000 for women’s basketball late), as Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter noted.
TGL data from Monday: 263K viewers for 5pm match, 297K for late window, both on ESPN2. Those are the lowest TGL matches to date
Same windows last year drew 57K for the early slot (studio programming) and 125K in the late (women’s hoops)
ESPN2’s most-watched programs yesterday
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) February 26, 2025
Tuesday marked the third TGL match in just over 24 hours, and also marked Jupiter Links’ first appearance without Tiger Woods. That left Kevin Kisner, Max Homa and Tom Kim to face off against The Bay’s Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee and Wyndham Clark.
Clark’s tee shot on the 155-yard par 3 third hole settled within six feet of the hole, and Lee converted the putt to put The Bay ahead 1-0. Two holes later, after a Kisner shank off the tee, Kim rolled in a five-foot putt to even the score at 1, gloating and taunting the crowd as the putt dropped.
Lee provided the night’s first dramatic moment on the sixth, holing out from 24 feet away to claim a point and go up 2-1:
He followed that up with a near-chip in on 8 that split the hole. On the final hole of triples, a double hammer-toss made the hole worth three points, and Lowry converted from six feet to put The Bay up 5-1 heading into singles.
Kim beat Lee on the first hole of singles when The Bay declined to accept Jupiter’s hammer, drawing the score to 5-2. The teams split the next three holes, clinching the match for The Bay, and by that point, Clark was wandering around the inside of the arena distributing souvenir Bay ballcaps. Kisner captured the 14th hole over Lowry, then Clark took one from Homa, leaving the final score at 6-3.
Los Angeles, The Bay and Atlanta Drive have all clinched playoff berths; the final spot comes down to New York, Jupiter Links and Boston Common. That means either Woods or Rory McIlroy — and possibly both — will be out of the playoffs, surely not a situation anyone involved with TGL either expected or wanted.
Also, perhaps it’s nothing, perhaps it’s something: Brooks Koepka, the five-time major winner and LIV Golf stalwart, was in the crowd mingling with players beforehand:
Combine that with Atlanta Drive owner Arthur Blank’s comments on Monday night about TGL expanding to more teams and more players, and there are some intriguing possibilities for TGL’s future.
The immediate future, however, is another tripleheader to start next week. On Monday, The Bay will play Los Angeles GC at 3 p.m. ET and New York GC will play Boston Common GC at 7 p.m. ET, both matches on ESPN2. Tuesday night, Jupiter Links will play Atlanta Drive at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
