Any early progress report on the TGL experiment was incomplete until a truly competitive match manifested. And perhaps the fact that viewers had to wait until the fourth week of action for do-or-die shots to be traded is a problem to reverse-engineer against in the future. But that would be focusing on the wispy clouds obscuring a bright star that announced its arrival Monday night as Jupiter Links’s Tom Kim took the stage with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and stole all the attention with clutch putt after clutch putt and made-for-television antics perfectly suited for a new era of golf.
Still only 22 and in his third full season on the PGA Tour, the South Korean is one of the more exciting young players on the circuit with an already impressive résumé that includes three victories and a runner-up finish at the 2023 British Open. Despite this, he is not a household name. Certainly not like the two TGL founders but also not on par with Adam Scott or Keegan Bradley. Yet anyone tuning in to ESPN for Jupiter's dramatic overtime triumph over Boston Common would have to conclude that he’s not only one of the best players in the world, but also one of the most entertaining.
