TGL's launch on Tuesday night marked the introduction countless golf fans and many pros have spent years begging for: a shot clock.
It was an unqualified success across the board—probably the overall winner of the night—and hopefully the start of things to come.
"Shot clock," Matt Fitzpatrick said in response to a question about which TGL rule he'd like to see embraced by tour golf. "I just wish this was in regular golf."
And better yet, TGL's shot clock churned out some data points on exactly how it was used. I went back and re-watched the broadcast and collected it all, so let's dive in...
Quick TGL Shot Clock Explainer
These are the basics of how TGL's shot clock works:
- The shot clock is 40 seconds long
- The shot clock happens on every shot
- Teams have two timeouts each
- The clock starts when the referee deems it's a player's turn to hit
- The clock appeared to end when the ball hit the screen
What TGL's Shot Clock Data Reveals
Although the shot clock runs on every shot, the broadcast didn't show the shot clock consistently on short game shots. I was in the arena watching but wasn't thinking about doing this article at the time. So to get around this and stay consistent, I only took the full shots—the shots that were hit into the screen.
Here's everyone's data, listed from fastest to slowest:
Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler was the fastest player on TGL's opening night, which is saying something, considering he was playing with two of the fastest players on tour in Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg.
Fowler was blazing. He averaged just 20 seconds to hit his shot, only needing 50 percent of the shot clock's allotted time.
Was it because his team, NYGC, was uncompetitive? Potentially. He's a fast player, but towards the end of the uncompetitive match, Fowler was playing extra fast. Almost 10 seconds faster.
Xander Schauffele
Xander, interestingly, was the second-fastest player on the night. He used just over 53 percent of his allotted time, an average of 21.4 seconds per shot.
Xander can tend to linger over the ball under pressure in tour events, but obviously no sign of that here in this more laid-back environment. To my eye, there were a few times that he did look a little rushed stepping into the ball, but when I put that question to his team afterwards, both he and teammate Fitzpatrick quickly dismissed that idea.
Ludvig Aberg
Probably the fastest trigger-puller on tour, Aberg clocked in as the third-fastest, at just shy of 22 seconds.
Aberg basically just steps up over the ball, and after one quick takeaway rehearsal, lets it rip. He and his coach work hard on maintaining that rhythm, and it showed. He was pretty consistently around that 25 seconds-per-shot mark. Only his first and last shots inched faster.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick clocked in a mere 3 milliseconds on average slower than Ludvig.
Fitzpatrick is known for playing fast and has openly called for more slow play penalties. He was surprised at how pleasantly pacy the shot clock felt.
"I didn't feel rushed. It was much faster than I thought, but I felt I had time to choose my shot," he said.
Shane Lowry
It's worth noting that this was a group of particularly fast players, so while Lowry's 22.4 second average was technically slower than four other golfers on the night, it's hardly slow.
Besides, when you look at Lowry's shot-by-shot data, you can see Lowry's overall average was weighed down by the task of needing to hit the nerve-wracking first shot of the night. He used an extra 10 seconds on that shot compared to his average. Had he maintained his average pace on that one shot, he would've finished the night as the second-fastest player.
"I think we're some of the faster players, and even for us it gets down into 20 seconds, 15 seconds at times," he said. "I imagine it's going to be quite difficult for some people."
Wyndham Clark
Clark used about 26 seconds per shot, almost 67 percent of his allotted time.
Clark never felt slow on the night, but he did seem to stand over the ball a little longer than most. It still fell comfortably within his allotted time, but in a group of blazing fast players, it placed him sixth of six on this list.
Final Shot Clock Takeaways...
- Dare I say, is the shot clock too slow?
- The mere presence of the shot clock, even though players didn't use their entire allotted time, had the effect of making them play faster.
- Would be interesting to introduce an element where teams can reduce their opponents' time
- Players have more time to use than they seem to think.
- More shot clock in regular golf, please.