TGL: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s indoor golf league starts in Florida

The biggest success of the opening session was the 40-second shot clock that helped keep the pace of the match high. Rarely did the players let it drop under 15 seconds. If they did, a heartbeat sound that quickened as the timer edged closer to zero echoed around the arena.

And while play actually felt unnecessarily rushed at times, nobody fell foul of the penalty stroke for allowing the clock to expire.

The opening nine holes of the 15-hole match featured all three players on each team hitting alternate shots. Tee shots were thudded into the big screen from a distance of 35 yards with the action switching to the short-game complex once the ball was within 50 yards of the hole. After each hole, 600 motors, working under the green, created a new putting surface.

Win a hole, win a point.

The New York smiles had largely disappeared by the sixth hole as The Bay raced into a 6-0 lead in the alternate shot triples.

New York finally got on the scoreboard when the previously misfiring Fitzpatrick knocked a 70ft chip to gimme range on the ninth.

The final six holes were played as head-to-head singles, with each pairing contesting two holes.

Fowler took on Lowry, Fitzpatrick faced Wyndham Clark and Schauffele played Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, with the commentator’s attempt to stoke a Ryder Cup rivalry falling flat.

The match was over as a contest after the 10th hole. Lowry beat Fowler to put The Bay 7-1 ahead with four to play, but Clark seemed oblivious until told by his playing partners. The remaining holes were played though, given winning holes count in the event of a tie in the league.

“I’m going to be the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf,” laughed Lowry, who seemed the player most at ease. Karma caught up with him on the 13th as he mis-hit a bunker shot. “A bit like me, a bit chunky,” he laughed.