TGL Season 2 betting preview: Our expert predicts a new champion
Editor's Note: This article is published in partnership with Read The Line, a Golf Digest content partner.
Cliff Hawkins/TGL
Woods and Thomas leave more questions than answers as we preview Season 2 of TGL.
Will Atlanta Drive Golf Club be able to repeat without Justin Thomas?
And will Tiger Woods join Jupiter Links Golf Club this season?
Read The Line Keith Stewart explains a way you can win up to $500,000 by predicting the results on TGL in the video below:
On Dec. 28, Season 2 of the TGL kicks off in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The SoFi Center will be rocking when fans of the simulator league are treated to a rematch of the SoFi Cup Finals: the Atlanta Drive Golf Club versus the New York Golf Club.
The odds to win Year 2 of TGL (and Match 1) have been posted at FanDuel. The SoFi Cup favorites are the defending champions, but will Atlanta Drive be the same without one of their emotional leaders? Justin Thomas is out this season due to back surgery. Speaking of back surgery, will Tiger Woods be able to return in time to help his teammates from Jupiter Links Golf Club assemble a playoff run? All of this and more in our Read The Line preview of Season 2 in the SoFi Center.
Megan Briggs/TGL
Odds to win the SoFi Cup (FanDuel)
- Atlanta Drive Golf Club +260
- Boston Common Golf Club +300
- New York Golf Club +460
- Los Angeles Golf Club +460
- The Bay Golf Club +500
- Jupiter Links Golf Club +720
Before we break down the preseason betting board, TGL announced a couple of enhancements to the SoFi Center in advance of their second campaign. Improving scoring volatility is the theme, and each of the changes is a major improvement. Let’s start with fan safety. If Kevin Kisner is hitting a bunker shot across from my seat in the arena, I would have been worried during Season 1. The TMRW Sports team has improved the sand situation. The most obvious fix is that they removed one. The “Greenzone” now has two bunkers instead of three.
The second sand upgrade has improved the stability of the surface. The remaining bunkers are 50 percent larger and include revetted layers of turf. These changes will stabilize the sand, allowing players to be more creative. Last year, only one style of shot was possible to get out safely. Now players have a few options. The Greenzone experience is the best part of a TGL match. By drastically improving the bunker quality, around-the-green acumen will increase your chances of winning.
Over the course of 15 matches, the semifinals and finals, hole locations started to become redundant. Fans wanted more variety from a setup perspective. Well ask, and ye shall receive! The putting surface has been made 38 percent larger. Instead of the seven hole locations we saw in Season 1, now there will be 12! Much of the slope between the two plateaus has been softened, and the peak has been lowered by 18 inches. Just like the bunker improvements, these changes to the putting surface will dramatically improve playability. We want players to attack hole locations, chip-in from off the green, and hole bunker shots.
Bigger swings allow for bigger wins on the betting board during Triples and Singles play. Congratulations to the TMRW Sports team for taking fan and industry feedback and acting quickly.
How will these changes influence play? The best teams in the Greenzone were the contenders in Season 1. Most pundits played the power card as the separating skill. The longest and most powerful team was going to win. Early on, when the average match scorecard was well over 6,000 yards, it was a slight advantage. As the TGL course team watched the early matches, their setup strategy evolved. Layouts were designed shorter, and the most volatile scoring holes were continuously chosen.
Putting, short game and Hammer strategy were soon the most important edge(s). With better bunkers and more hole locations, the influence of those skills will only increase. Looking ahead, and comparing that knowledge to the preseason odds board, I see a couple of opportunities.
Megan Briggs/TGL
- Atlanta Drive Golf Club (+260) had all of the elements needed to repeat until Justin Thomas went under the knife. Lucas Glover is a fine ball-striking replacement for JT’s approach game, but can he help on the greens? The best Hammer team in TGL during Season 1 will have to rely more on strategy this season. With a big unknown coming in (who will replace Thomas), Cantlay and company are a non-betting option at the moment.
- Only one TGL team has four major champions on its roster, and that is Boston Common Golf (+300). Unfortunately, only one team finished Season 1 without a win, and that, too, was BCG. Rory McIlroy may have had a career year on the course, but it didn’t begin in the SoFi Center. Last in scrambling (31.6 percent) and last in short putts under 10’ (54.5 percent), both of those skills must improve to have any chance at the cup. Especially when you consider the changes to the Greenzone.
Megan Briggs/TGL
- The Los Angeles Golf Club (+460) returns with two FedEx Cup playoff winners, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour in Collin Morikawa and a healthy Sahith Theegala. Fleetwood is one of the best golfers in the world after his incredible 2025 season. LAGC lost in overtime to Atlanta during the regular season and in the semifinals to New York. The best team in Singles play, a couple more points from their Hammer strategy, and they look like a solid sleeper for the SoFi Cup.
- The New York Golf Club (+460) seems ready for another postseason run. Remember, they lost their first two matches and still made the playoffs. How did they do it? New York made more long putts than any other TGL team. Following an epic Ryder Cup performance by Cameron Young, fall victories by Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rickie Fowler suddenly might be out of the starting lineup. New York is a playoff team and also a great value like LAGC on the current board.
- Bonus preview: Look for the Bronx Bombers (+110) to win Match 1 and produce a positive payday. The current odds board still has ADGC (-135) as a slight favorite. I bet those odds were set before the JT news…
- Following the first-ever TGL match, we all had The Bay Golf Club (+500) winning Season 1. The longest team off the tee also made more putts than any other team inside 10’ (78.3 percent). They led the TGL in fairways hit (76%) and GIR (76%). So what happened? The Hammer happened. TBGC scored zero Hammer points all season, and only Jupiter Links Golf Club lost more Hammer situations. To contend past a couple of these serious contenders like New York and Los Angeles, the boys from The Bay had better figure out their Season 2 strategy.
- Let’s be honest, even if Tiger Woods does play, Jupiter Links Golf Club (+720) is going to struggle. Nobody threw more Hammers and lost more points (10) than Jupiter Links. The shortest team off the tee also hit the least number of GIRs (50 percent). Kisner’s season was a struggle, and both Max Homa and Tom Kim finished outside the top 100 in FedEx Cup points! Maybe if Kim convinces Scottie Scheffler to substitute for an injured Woods, the hometown Links may have a chance.
Keith Stewart is a five-time award-winning PGA professional, a betting contributor and content partner with Golf Digest and founder of Read The Line, the premier on-site live golf betting insights service covering the LPGA and PGA Tour. Subscribe to Read The Line’s weekly newsletter here and raise your golf betting acumen. Keith's winning content can also be found on SportsGrid, Bleacher Report and The Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @readtheline.