Fans Appalled by ‘Out of Touch’ Xander Schauffele as $1.1 Million Payday Fails to Silence His Complaints About Tech League TGL

After 77 days of TGL filled with laughter, worry, criticism, and some exciting golf, TGL’s debut season has concluded. There have been some key moments that fans will remember for a lifetime, like Kevin Kisner‘s flagstick shot, which left Tiger Woods & Co. in tears while laughing. But the league had also struggled to garner views with the odd broadcast timings. TGL’s schedule was a little confusing. Some matches were on ESPN, and others on ESPN2. With the season in the talks, the golf world is pitching a new thought to perfect the league.

Earlier, Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams, owners of the Los Angeles GC, shared interest in having LPGA stars in the league. Then, passing through technical glitches, shot clock skeptics, and viewership demands, the league landed on Xander Schauffele‘s suggestion. Sharing a gist of it, Matt Vincenzi, golf writer/analyst at Sports Illustrated, has shared a post on X.

His post read, “Xander on TGL: “I think just like us players sit down in our off season with our team, they’re going to sit down here and see how they can tweak everything, whether it’s shortening the season or having it end (sooner). “I was talking to someone earlier about that; having it end sort of just before the Players, that would be something that we’d be up for.” This was a 77 day season that he got paid $1.125 million for.” The golfer, despite suffering in the league, has bagged over a million in earnings. Though the team lost in the finals, the earnings would have been 2x of the current if they had won. The league mostly chose Mondays and Tuesdays for the matches. Now, with the American professional suggestion to make it shorter.

If the league considers the suggestion, it will have to plan a schedule with regular matchups on weekdays. But TGL is already a fast-paced, simulator-driven format. While PGA Tour players navigate shifting course conditions, unpredictable weather, and grueling travel schedules, TGL ones are tucked inside a stable arena. The result of having weekday matches has already been a suffering for the league – the viewership saw hills and valleys. By the end of season one, TGL’s average viewership was 504,000.

With the talks of expansion and having more investors, Mike McCarley has already shared about prospective investors who might join in for the second season of TGL. The suggestion of reducing the duration might not come into effect, but Schauffele’s tweet has led to a backlash.

Fans’ reaction after Xander Schauffele’s suggestion for TGL

After the post with the statement of the golfer surfaced, fans were quick to oppose the golfer and share their thoughts on it. One of the fans wrote, “These guys are the worst. Insufferable,” while another added, “It’s impossible to like some of these guys.” Xander Schauffele was under scrutiny earlier as well for his rumored dissatisfaction with not getting paid at the Ryder Cup. Now, with his claims after having over a million purse increase, fans are discouraging his take.

Top Comment by Laney

It wasn’t Xander who was complaining about getting paid for the Ryder cup it was cantlay. You guys should really...more

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Another fan wrote, “These guys are so out of touch with reality.” More than 100 players earn over a million on the PGA Tour (on average). However, for the smaller tours, the number is way higher. Now, despite the million-plus earnings in 77 days, the golfer’s suggestion to reduce the timeframe left fans angry.

More fans joined in with pun intended in their comments. One wrote, “I was just telling my job this morning that us employees, are in total support of reducing the work day to 2 hours. Obviously, we expect the pay to stay the same or increase. 🤞.” Another wrote, “Imagine if he found out what a real job was like? 😱.” Pointing out the reality of earning, Schauffele’s suggestion caught fire. The golfer’s earnings, after 77 days in TGL, were still higher than what most players bag on the 10-month Korn Ferry Tour. Take the example of current money leader, Lebioda Hank, who has earned $291,458.

With speculation about the TGL season 2, Xander Schauffele has turned the fire on himself. What are your thoughts on Schauffele’s suggestion? Do you agree with him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.