Justin Thomas dubs TGL’s simulator ‘wild’ compared to real golf courses - “The screen is so far away”

Justin Thomas’ Atlanta Drive qualified for the inaugural TGL season’s playoffs and is set to take on Shane Lowry’s The Bay Golf Club in the precursor to the finals. Thomas had his moments in the run-up to the playoffs, making him one of the biggest promoters of the simulator league started by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Ahead of the playoffs, Thomas has come forward to laud the TGL’s simulator screen. The 31-year-old golfer was speaking on golf YouTuber Grant Hovrat’s new video when he made his feelings clear on the alternate shooting range and stated that the screen at SoFi Center is “so far away.”

The ace golfer noted that players must “really aim” compared to a normal simulator setup. He also noted that the distance makes the ball “legitimately curve” making it an interesting playing ground for him.

Speaking about aiming at the screens on TGL as opposed to a golf course, Justin Thomas told Hovrat (at 25:30):

“It's wild man because the screen's so far away. You really do have to aim versus in a, you know when you're just hitting a simulator like I don't feel like you at least, I don't you just kind of like the screen is right there. You just hit right but the ball is like legitimately curving by the time you can, it can be working one way or the other by the time it gets to the screen.

So, it's that part of it. It’s really really cool it's been it's been awesome dude I've really enjoyed it.”

Similarly, TGL’s innovative 40-second shot clock was quick to become a fan favorite as it kept the pace of play in check.

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Justin Thomas on TGL’s shot clock prospect on PGA Tour

Fans and some players have called on the PGA Tour to adapt the TGL's quick-play feature to the circuit's events. This comes as the tour looks for answers to its pace-of-play problem. However, Justin Thomas doesn’t seem on board with the idea.

After his first TGL match in January, the 31-year-old stated he isn’t sure it will make the difference people envision on the Tour. The PGA Player Advisory Committee member noted that the change must be “drastic” to be noticeable on the circuit.

Thomas said after his Atlanta Drive defeated New York Golf Club 4-0, as quoted by Golf:

“It’s tough. Look, this is my 10th year on Tour. I’ve been on the PAC a lot of years. We’ve talked about pace of play all 10 years… You have to make such drastic changes for it to be noticeable. Pretty much a lot of the conversations end the same way; it’s like, what are we trying to accomplish here? Are rounds going to be 12 minutes faster? Are they going to be 20 minutes faster?

It’s hard to realistically make a big enough difference where people are like, wow, this is great. Rounds are only three hours now or three and a half hours instead of five. You know what I mean? It’s really hard to make that big of a change.”

Justin Thomas at TGL, Palm Beach Post (Image via Imagn)

Thomas stated that fans want to watch players at “difficult places” during tournaments which directly conflicts with controlling the pace of play. Notably, the ace golfer made the comments after playing completely within the shot clock timing on his TGL debut. For the unversed, almost all matches on the simulator series are played in under two hours.