The new-car smell is off TGL, the tech-infused indoor golf league, and now it’s up to the competition and the players to maintain the interest in the fledgling league. Monday night featured the most star power yet — both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, TGL co-owners, were in action — as well as its most competitive match to date. Woods' Jupiter GC defeated McIlroy's Boston Common in overtime, 3-3 (2-0), in what was easily the most lively night in the league's short history.

Both Woods and McIlroy provided some highlight moments, some memories of majors past, and one true hell-yeah moment — no, seriously — when Woods followed McIlroy by draining a long putt to save the hole and rally the crowd. No, it wasn't Augusta National on a Sunday afternoon, but it was some good weeknight golf fun:

TGL presents a bit of a challenge to recap, because it’s still somewhere between serious competition and spectacle. There’s nothing seriously at stake beyond pride — it will be a long time before the SoFi Trophy becomes as prized a possession as a major championship trophy — but pride can be enough to elevate a routine round of golf to something special, particularly when you’ve got some of the most hypercompetitive and talented players on the planet at work.

So, for a moment, let’s treat this like a serious competition. Jupiter Links ran out Woods; Kevin Kisner, who struggled the last time he played two weeks ago; and Tom Kim, making his TGL debut. Boston Common featured McIlroy, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley, major winners across the board.

Jupiter Links suffered the worst defeat in TGL history two weeks ago, falling 12-1 to Collin Morikawa and LA Golf Club. Woods, Max Homa and in particular Kisner struggled with the format and the technological elements of TGL’s big screen. Boston Common, meanwhile, is the last of TGL’s six teams to play, and features three of the game’s most charismatic figures.

One of the key challenges of TGL, from a technological perspective, is the short game, where players are firing their second or third shots into the green. Both teams struggled early with approaches; Kisner and McIlroy both flew approaches unexpectedly wide. The putts remained tricky, as well; both McIlroy and Woods were unable to convert putts from inside seven feet on the first hole.

Boston Common took the first point of the match on the third hole, and Jupiter Golf evened up the match on the sixth hole. That score held through into singles, where Woods was assessed a penalty for slow play, and where Kisner outdueled Scott on the 12th. Kim nearly drained his tee shot on the 13th to give Jupiter a 3-2 lead heading into the final two holes. Boston won the 14th to tie the match at 3 heading into the final hole.

Bradley and Kim halved the final regulation hole, sending the match to a closest-to-the-pin overtime. Each player took a 37-yard shot, competing against one other opponent for the most precise shot. Kim defeated Bradley and Kisner knocked off Scott without Woods and McIlroy even swinging a club in overtime.

And now for the spectacle aspect. Now in its fourth week, TGL appears to be finding more of a rhythm from the broadcast perspective. The match felt faster than previous iterations, with fewer broadcaster interruptions and more cross-player chatter. Some of that has to do with the specific players, of course — Kim is made for this kind of format, and Bradley happily exulted on long putts. All six players seemed more engaged in the competition than several of their colleagues on other teams; the key for TGL might well be getting players based on their likability and charisma rather than their World Golf ranking.

The broadcast featured many more celebrity Q&As and appearances — Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Drake Maye, among others — than past installments. The on-course action, from long putts to pinpoint drives, was better this week than in previous weeks, too. Combine that with the Woods/McIlroy factor, and this was a more lively night of TGL than any of the three previous versions.

Another factor potentially hindering TGL’s viewership: the lack of a unified date and time. This marked the first TGL event held on a Monday, and the 6:30 p.m. ET start time was much earlier than the 9 p.m. start time of TGL’s debut, and of next week’s match. Plus, the match, entertaining as it was, ran well over its allotted two hours, which was one of the key selling points of the entire enterprise.

Still, from an on-course perspective, this was absolutely what TGL needed — compelling figures and a close match. Viewership numbers will tell the tale of whether TGL is catching on with the public, but this was everything TGL could have wanted from a competitive standpoint.