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After watching TGL’s five other teams compete, Boston Common Golf is finally on the tee come Monday night – The Boston Globe

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After watching TGL’s five other teams compete, Boston Common Golf is finally on the tee come Monday night – The Boston Globe


They’ll square off against a threesome from Jupiter Links featuring legend Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods’s Jupiter Links team opposes Boston Common Golf Monday night at 6:30 on ESPN.Marta Lavandier/Associated Press

“The players are sort of chomping at the bit,” said Mark Lev, president and CEO of Boston Common Golf. “I’m not sure you would ever see Rory playing Tiger in a competitive outdoor environment moving forward — you’d need both guys to be in the same group in the final round, and hopefully that happens — but what’s great about TGL is you know who’s going to be playing who.”

There are a lot of unknowns, too.

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One is, how will Lev and Boston Common Golf create buzz, never mind loyalty, for a team that features one New Englander in Bradley, an Irishman in McIlroy, an Aussie in Scott, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who will make his debut in the team’s third match, in mid-February.

Having David Ortiz on site rooting for Boston Common Golf Monday night won’t hurt, but it will take more than Big Papi.

“I like to consider it a marketing opportunity as opposed to a marketing challenge,” said Lev, who also heads up Fenway Sports Management, the marketing and sponsorship arm of Fenway Sports Group, which owns the team as well as the Red Sox and Liverpool FC.

“Owning the teams that FSG owns who play their games or matches in their own town, obviously, when you’re looking to build fandom, there’s nothing more effective than that,” said Lev. “What we’ve tried to do so far is create that connection, we’ve had a docuseries created around the making of our team that aired on NESN and the Golf Channel. And certainly Keegan and his connection to this region is a huge asset for us. And we’re looking to build that connection, we’re going to be announcing at the match a commitment our team and players are making to donate 5,000 rounds of golf to an organization called Youth on Course that will provide tee times for kids in and around Greater Boston.”

These are still early days for Boston, Jupiter, and the other teams, from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York.

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“It will be a slow build,” said Lev. “But I think as our players play and show what they’re all about, they’ll endear themselves to fans in New England just like players on the sports teams in Boston do right now.”

Beyond trying to forge a bond with fans from each team’s region, the league as a whole has its hopes pinned on how the game attracts and keeps viewership.

The first match garnered an average of 919,000 viewers, and in Week 2, when Woods debuted, the number crept to 1.05 million.

Last week, the match between New York and Atlanta featured Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Patrick Cantlay, but no mega-stars.

The result was an average viewership of 682,000.

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That’s quite a drop-off, but one that Lev said the league is not making too much of given the small sample size of matches. He focused on the 868,000 average, which he said “exceeded expectations.”

For the 18-to-49-year-old demographic advertisers prize, Lev said TGL’s 43 percent of its viewership in that age group tops most of the major sports leagues and the median age of 51 is lower than the NFL, MLB, NHL, and the Premier League.

With time slots being bumped around each week, Lev said viewership has been much higher than previous programming on ESPN.

“I think everybody’s really pleased with that. It’s a great foundation to build from,” he said.

It’s fair to say that the TGL considers the matchup between McIlroy and Woods, who are co-founders of the league, to be the biggest draw to date.

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With players mic’d up, non-stop music played, and 1,500 fans in attendance encouraged to express themselves, TGL is deliberately charting a different look and feel from your standard golf tournament.

“There are no ‘Quiet, Please’ signs that are being held, quite the contrary,” said Lev, who noted fans in the arena can sit back and watch the play unfold in front of them, as opposed to picking a group at a traditional tournament to walk alongside for 18 holes. “When they’re hitting chip shots from around the green, they’re no more than 5 feet away from the fans in the stands.”

The players have been adjusting to more than the noise.

Besides hitting into a screen, players have noted the differences reading putts under television lighting than sunlight, plus other subtleties.

“Tiger was talking about how the artificial grass around the green complex, the chipping area, there’s a real difference between when they’re chipping down the grain versus into the grain,” said Lev.

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TGL features six teams of four players competing other in a tech-infused arena the size of a football field.Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

The result is a work in progress, as TGL strives to retain a competitive element with the entertainment factor.

“There’s a little bit of building the plane as we’re flying it here,” said Lev.

Monday night, “Boston’s team” scans its boarding pass and takes off.


Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.

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MBTA Green Line trains out from Kenmore to Boston College on B branch through April 30

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MBTA Green Line trains out from Kenmore to Boston College on B branch through April 30


The Green Line B branch trains will not run between Kenmore and Boston College through April 30, according to the MBTA.

The nine-day outage will allow T officials to work on several infrastructure improvements and maintenance, the installation of Green Line Train Protection System (GLTPS) infrastructure, replacement of 130-year-old wooden overhead catenary wire “trough” near the Green Line portals and more.

The MBTA announced free, accessible shuttle buses between the two stops, Kenmore and Boston College during the outage. The buses will not stop at Griggs Street, Allston Street, and Packard’s Corner due to “accessibility issues,” T officials said.

During the weekend of April 25 and 26, the outage will extend through Copley, and shuttle buses will skip Griggs Street, Allston Street, and Packard’s Corner during the same weekend.

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Throughout the shutdown all Green Line frequency will be reduced between Copley and Government center.

The MBTA urged riders to use the Orange Line at Back Bay during the outage. The agency also noted riders can transfer to Copley from Back Bay, an approximately five-minute walk.

The route 57 bus will also be free from April 22 through 24 and April 27 through 30 for alternate service between Kenmore and Packard’s Corner, the MBTA stated. During the April 25 and 26 weekend, the T noted the bus will not be a good alternate with not Green Line service at Kenmore.



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Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe flex in Boston: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 2

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Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe flex in Boston: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 2


Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined for 59 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers looked like a completely different team against the Boston Celtics in Game 2.

And unlike Game 1, the Sixers’ defense also showed up, holding Boston to 43 second-half points and 39 percent shooting for the game in a 111-97 road win to tie this Eastern Conference first-round series at 1-1.

Edgecombe scored a team-high 30 points on 12-for-20 shooting, and Maxey added 29 points and nine assists. The Sixers’ backcourt duo combined to shoot 11-for-22 from 3-point range. The Sixers were 19-for-39 from 3 after going 4 of 23 from that distance in Game 1.

Boston was led by Jaylen Brown’s game-high 36 points, but Jayson Tatum was the only other Celtics player who scored in double figures with 19. Boston shot 13-for-50 from 3-point range.

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Here are some takeaways with Game 3 set for Friday in Philadelphia.

Celtics offense falls flat

The Celtics knew to expect a different effort from the 76ers.

One adjustment from Philadelphia likely didn’t take Boston by surprise. After taking just 23 3-pointers in Game 1, the 76ers sought out more long balls in Game 2.

Maxey called his own number more often. Edgecombe was aggressive from the start. As a team, the 76ers played with more freedom, firing plenty of shots that they might have turned down in the series opener. Philadelphia made plenty of those looks while shooting 48.7 percent from behind the arc.

Still, the Celtics would have been all right if they had played their usual offensive game. Instead, their offense was their biggest issue. They shot just 39.3 percent on field goal attempts. They missed 37 of 50 3-point attempts. They committed an atypical 13 turnovers.

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Trying to come back in the fourth quarter, they had too many empty offensive possessions. Jaylen Brown got blocked while trying to beat the shot clock buzzer and picked up an offensive foul while hitting Maxey in the face. Jayson Tatum missed a contested pull-up 3-pointer early in the shot clock on one possession and threw away a pass on another. Derrick White was left wide open in the left corner but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The 76ers left the door open early in the fourth quarter by missing several shots, including a couple of layups, but the Celtics couldn’t fully capitalize. Eventually, Maxey sank a series of baskets to create more separation for Philadelphia, and the Celtics largely went away down the stretch. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer

Sixers bounce back in Boston

This is the way the 76ers have to play if they want to extend this series as far as possible.

Maxey and Edgecombe have to dominate their guard matchups, which is exactly what they did in Tuesday night’s Game 2. Paul George needs to be a deterrent to Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He doesn’t have to eclipse them, because that would be difficult. But he does have to give them a bit of pause. Most of all, the 76ers have to play the focused brand of basketball they exhibited in Game 2 rather than the sloppy and slapstick kind of hoops they played in Game 1.

The Celtics are such a good team that the above equates to near-perfect basketball. But that’s the task the Sixers are facing, particularly without star center Joel Embiid. On Tuesday night, this was a team up to the task. They were focused. They executed on both ends of the floor. They got much better play from their role players. Maxey and Edgecombe were absolutely dominant.

Overall, on both ends of the floor, this is the best game the 76ers have played in months. And they got it at just the right time. Now we have a 1-1 series heading back to Philadelphia. — Tony Jones, Sixers beat writer 

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Former Massachusetts doctor faces 81 new sexual assault charges

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Former Massachusetts doctor faces 81 new sexual assault charges



A former doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston has been indicted on 81 new sexual assault charges, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Dr. Derrick Todd, a rheumatologist, was already facing rape and assault charges in Middlesex County and had been sued by dozens of former patients.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the new charges stem from accusations made by 22 victims between 17 and 56 years old. Todd faces 21 new rape charges, 59 new counts of indecent assault and battery and one count of assault with intent to rape.

“Many of these women had complicated and gravely serious symptoms and conditions. Some were in excruciating pain. Many were desperate for relief,” Hayden said. “Dr. Todd intently groomed them all into quiet submission.”

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With the latest indictments, Todd is now facing more than 100 charges of sexual assault in Massachusetts. 

“Almost unimaginable”

The alleged assaults occurred between 2017 and 2023 at Brigham and Women’s Hale Building in Boston and the Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. Hayden said it’s “almost unimaginable” how Todd was able to violate and betray patients’ trust.

“The scale of victimization and the magnitude of trauma left in the wake of these allegations is something we have never encountered,” Hayden said.

WBZ-TV has reached out to Todd’s lawyer for comment. He could be arraigned in court on the new charges this week, Hayden said. 

Charges against Dr. Derrick Todd

Brigham and Women’s fired Todd in 2023 following accusations that he performed inappropriate pelvic and breast exams on his patients. The I-Team reported at the time that police were investigating more than a dozen complaints of sex assault against Todd by his female patients. 

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In January of 2025, Todd pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to rape charges involving two of his former patients at Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham. 

Last month, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said a grand jury indicted Todd on three new charges of rape and 17 counts of indecent assault and battery.



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