TGL’s back! Our PGA pro’s best bets for the opening match of Season 2

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — If TGL is good for golf, that’s great, but is it good for us? Our purpose at Read The Line is clear: we’re here to cash in on winning tickets. RTL correctly predicted 14 of the 19 games in Season 1 (including playoffs). Match winners alone have a 74% winning rate. If we count all 41 TGL bets, we have 26 winners, a return on investment of +23%.

No one could have predicted how well TGL would perform in its first season. There is no doubt that the audience numbers prove this. As you know, RTL is not a reactive golf newsletter. We want to know what happens next. I’m happy to report that the leaders at TMRW Sports have done something that I believe will make TGL better; they’ve improved playability. their changes green zone Here’s how: They created more hole locations (up from 7 to 12), improved bunker consistency, added exciting new hole designs, and renovated the surrounding greens. The result will be more swings in scoring, which is what we want. The higher your score, the more holes you win, which means more winning tickets with our exclusive TGL Inside Advantage!

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Read The Line Keith Stewart explains in the video below a way to win up to $500,000 by predicting the outcome of TGL:

You can sign up here for a chance to win the TGL Perfect Season competition.

As this exciting new sport develops, you start to understand what Billy Horschel mentioned on a Zoom call last week, where he mentioned a tighter PGA Tour schedule in 2027 and how it could attract more players to the TGL. If TGL continues down this path, and they can promote new stars, more players will be interested in filling the January 2027 vacancies. TMRW Sports has patented three team names: Motor City Golf Club, Chicago Links Golf Club and Texas Golf Club. That last one really caught my attention, because I know one of TGL’s goals for Season 2 must be to get the full attention of the world’s No. 1 team.

Format, route and starting lineup

Greetings from inside the SoFi Center. Yes, as you watched on Sunday afternoon, Joe Idone and I will be live streaming the first game of Season 2 from our tech-filled home at TGL. Many of you are familiar with the competition format. We’ll still see nine-hole triples matches, followed by six-hole H2H singles matches. A point is awarded for winning a hole, and the winner is the team that has won more total holes after 15 holes. pay attention to hammer Because it heightens the anxiety at any given moment, doubling the total score on that hole.

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lineup card:

Match 1 Match order and singles matches!

• Atlanta Avenue GC (-138): Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel

• New York GC (+110): Cam Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele

• Atlanta Avenue GC has this distinction.

• Patrick Cantlay vs. Cam Young (10th, 13th)

• Lucas Glover vs. Matt Fitzpatrick (Hole 11, 14)

• Billy Horschel vs. Xander Schauffele (Hole 12, 15)

• Team Managers: Ben Helmrath (ADGC), Kraig Joy (NYGC)

• Justin Thomas(ADGC) and Ricky Fowler(NYGC) absent

Season 2’s new hole designs and hole updates are a huge improvement over Season 1. Forcing players to create shots, manipulate trajectory, curvature, and most importantly, take risks. A brand new hole is calledStinger​Is a perfect example. Better yet, take a lookcenote​.Both debuted this week. Another enhancement to the scorecard you’ll hear about is Team vulnerability. Each of the six teams has a home court. The new (or refurbished) design aims to capture the region from which each team comes. These holes are only played when that team is playing, giving them “home field advantage.” To further enhance their advantage on these holes, the settings will be determined by the home team. Huge rock outcrops to avoid and home team hole locations, now TGL is really starting to understand what the fans want and why it can be unique!

Scorecard:

Race 1 route breakdown.

• The scorecard was designed to total 6,010 yards tonight.

• ADGC’s team hole, Fore-O-Fore, is the 9th hole.

• NYGC team hole, Big Apple placed fourth.

• Both team holes in this game were used during the first season: Fore-O-Fore was known as Sidewinder and Big Apple was known as Pin Oak.

• Three new holes were added to the game: Stone & Steeple (No. 2, par 5), Stinger (No. 4, par 4) and Cenote (No. 12, par 3).

• Stone & Steeple is Gil Hanse’s first design.

• Average length: Par 3s (187 yards), Par 4s (400 yards), and Par 5s (615 yards).

• 4 of the 5 par 4s are 416 yards or less!

• In Season 1, holes 10 (The Spear) and 13 (Bluebonnet) had a total of 11 free throws.

• Hole 1 (The Plank) was the first hole of the first season, while Hole 5 (Set in Stone) and Hole 14 (On the Rocks) were the holes used in all tournaments last season!

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Number book

Where does the edge fall? New York has a stronger starting lineup. I expect the fluctuations to be greater after the renovation green zone and refurbished hole designs. The fans want to see goals scored and I think we will. Of 15 regular-season designs in the first season, only five crossed the 6,000-yard plateau. New York Golf Club is 0-2 in games over 6,000 yards, while Atlanta Strip is 1-0. That win was against New York!

Competition details Game 1

All three players on the New York Golf Club roster have won on Tour since August. Matt Fitzpatrick won the DP World Tour, Xander Schauffele won the Baycurrent Classic and Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship. This is the most interesting team in TGL Season 1 – no expert would have picked them to reach the finals after an 0-2 start. New York has won two of its past three games by 10 points and is in the SoFi Cup playoffs. Most people see this lineup (Rickie Fowler included) and they think there’s a lot of power, but the truth is, they do it smartly. No team is better at long putts (more than 30 feet). The NYGC ranks second in tee speed and second in GIR, and they’re giving themselves a lot of putting opportunities.

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The defending SoFi Cup champion also proved that scoring from close range is the key to victory. Atlanta Avenue leads TGL in steals (77.3 percent) and mid-range putts from 10-30 feet (29.4 percent). While everyone was glued to the big screen, Atlanta Drive quickly figured out how to differentiate themselves from their competition; green zone Play and hammer! Yes, Atlanta Drive is used under Team Manager Ben Helmrath hammer In the first season, their performance was nearly perfect. The Fore-O-Fore boys lead TGL in hammer wins and, more importantly, hammer differentials. Can this heavily favored Georgia team continue to lure opponents into a two-run game?

I believe the boys from the Bronx will win the first game. The positive odds on the NYGC (+110) are a nice bonus, but New York’s lineup cards are simply better at this point. Both teams will hit plenty of lanes and GIR. These are the best players in the world and they will compete on a 2,400 square foot screen! TGL teams cannot be separated from driver or hardcore competition alone. Most holes have little to no penalty for missing the fairway. Take tonight’s scorecard, for example. There are four par 4s and five par 5s under 416 yards. Nine of the 15 holes require a short shot of 100 yards or less to hit the GIR. Being closer to the hole creates some distance, and I would give that advantage to the longer team, New York Golf Club. If the New York boys can avoid getting stuck in a hammer game and just use their scoring ability, they’ll win. By the end of 2025, all three New York players have progressed. Young, Fitz and Schauffele should feel very confident heading into 2026 after stellar declines.

The winning formula can be found in the score. It’s not just who can get closer, but more importantly who can score. All three players have wins in the second half of 2025, which I’m leaning toward. Patrick Cantlay may be the ultimate contender in Match Play, but he started 2025 ranked 11th in OWGR and finished 24th. Billy Horschel played this fall and was MVP in his first season, but he missed half of 2025 due to injury. In the end, Lucas Glover only contributed in two of the eight ADGC games in his first season. I know Glover won’t miss the lane tonight, but that’s the point. How many birdie putts will he make? Glover last competed in the BMW Championship in August!

Take advantage of the odds and a team from the city who know how to end the year in style!

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Individual competition: Looking for another dip (or two), here’s my breakdown of the six facing holes.

• Cantlay vs. Young: Cameron Young was a bust player in his first season. No player has more points in the regular season and playoffs combined (29). Young also leads the league in holes allowed in isolation (seven); welcome to TGL Betting. The scorecard of the first game gave the taller Young the advantage on both holes. Cameron could hold his neck on No. 10 and give himself a legitimate eagle try and win the hole. Bluebonnet (13th hole) was one of the most penalized holes in the first season. As a result, there were only four draws in 17 games last season. Watch for the savvy Cantlay to make an easy birdie to take the hole.

• Glover and Fitzpatrick: This game purely comes down to scoring on the greens. This is why I believe NYGC will win. Both H2H holes are close matches. Who can hit the ball closer with a scoring iron? Lucas and Matt have led the way in eight of the last 10 starts. Glover remained undefeated in singles competition during the first season. Fitzpatrick had to birdie to beat him, and that’s exactly what Matt had been doing all summer and into the fall. Fitzpatrick has improved in nine of his last 10 putting games, while Glover has improved in just three of his last 10 green games. Matt takes the spoils on the line (hole 11). The hole has been won five times in eight matches. On the Rocks is TGL’s most popular hammer hole. Partly because it’s almost always the penultimate hole, and partly because of its birdie efficiency. Depending on the scope and circumstances, I’d be willing to bet that hole is alive.

• Horschel and Schauffele: Both men had success in singles competition during their first season. Horschel scored 13 points in H2H games during the regular season and playoffs, while Schauffele ranked second in H2H scoring. Something to note: Xander only played in two regular season games, while Billy played in seven of the eight ADGC games. Hole No. 12 (cenote) is a completely new design. Based on the radical design, it’s hard to tell how the hole will function. The final hole (quick draw) seemed to favor the longer players, but in 11 games it only won 6 times. The probability of a player hitting the green twice is less than 50%. There’s been a lot of birdie halving here, and that will continue to be the case.

Game 1 begins today at 3 PM ET and can be watched on ABC! I’m guessing the broadcast TV rights are the reason TGL decided to go against the NFL’s Week 17 schedule. Who knows, some FanDuel users may see TGL’s live betting odds highlighted on their app. If that happens, Game 1 will see some extra fans invested in the outcome. As season two begins, we all want to see this momentum continue!

Match 1 card Match 1: Atlanta Avenue Golf Club vs. New York Golf Club

Game 1 Winner:

• New York Golf Club (+110)

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*- Odds from FanDuel