Rory McIlroy's first TGL season has been an epic disaster

With Scottie Scheffler not participating in the league and Xander Schauffele dealing with an injury, McIlroy is regarded as the best player in TGL by a wide margin. He's also playing great on outdoor courses with two wins and six top-five finishes in his last eight worldwide starts. However, that strong play hasn't translated to the simulator.

Through four matches, McIlroy is hitting just 50 percent of greens in regulation and making only 55.6 percent of putts from inside 10 feet. Both marks would rank last on the PGA Tour this season. Maybe more surprisingly, the Northern Irishman, who's finished first or second in driving distance on the PGA Tour in four straight seasons, ranks just eighth in TGL in the same stat (320.5). 

McIlroy's distance off the tee should be the biggest advantage Boston Common has over the other five teams. If he's not outdriving other players by a significant margin, the World No. 3 is simply a liability due to his poor iron play and putting.

McIlroy has won only two of the eight singles holes he played. He ranks 15th out of 25 players in total points won (seven), which is a huge disappointment considering only two golfers have played more holes than him. 

McIlroy's deficiencies don't stop at his on-course performance, either. The Boston Common captain has been clueless with his hammer strategy. During Monday night's match against Atlanta Drive Golf Club, McIlroy accepted a hammer to double the hole's points when he was off the green and Patrick Cantlay was three feet from the hole. He then blew his chip past the hole and missed the short putt to gift ADGC two points in a tie match. 

What makes McIlroy's dismal performance even worse is that he's a co-founder of the tech-driven golf league. No player has hit more shots on this simulator or toyed around with the rotating short-game area as much as him. He should be the sharpest player in terms of strategy, but he's been arguably the worst. 

McIlroy's rough TGL debut won't exactly affect his golf legacy, but it hasn't been a good look for one of the premier stars of the new league.