PALM BEACH GARDENS — One of NASCAR’s most successful simulator-to-asphalt drivers was on hand Tuesday night at the SoFi Center to get a glimpse of golf’s most famous simulator competition.
William Byron, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, was among a handful of notable attendees for the TGL match between Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common and Los Angeles Golf Club.
A 13-time winner in NASCAR, Byron’s career in racing began with childhood success on iRacing, an online racing simulator that touts its realism and high competition levels. Byron won more than 100 races as a teenager before pursuing live racing.
TGL may not be a staging ground for Byron and his friends’ future golf careers, but it nonetheless caught his attention as an avid golfer. After all, he used to hone his golf game in a simulator inside one of his former apartments.
“I’ve been watching this event for a couple weeks in a row,” Byron said. “I got some of my buddies here as well that play golf and we’ve been really intrigued to see what it’s like in person.”
“I started in sim racing and this is kind of a sim version of golf. There are a lot of similarities to how I got started and how my career has progressed as well.”
TGL golf tonight: Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf vs. Los Angeles Golf Club
Byron has emerged as one of NASCAR’s top contenders after finishing third in the Cup Series points standings each of the past two seasons.
He’ll look to defend his title on Feb. 16 at the Daytona International Speedway.
“It took an offseason for it to really set in and what that means,” Byron said of winning last season’s Daytona 500. “For us to start the season off with one of the biggest races of the year, when you win that race, you still have the rest of the year to go out and compete. You have to stay focused on the task at hand each week.”
Other notables, celebrities at Tuesday’s TGL match at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens
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John Henry, founder of Fenway Sports Group
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Sam Kennedy, CEO of Fenway Sports Group
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Theo Epstein, part-owner of Fenway Sports Group
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Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner
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Serena Williams, owner of Los Angeles Golf Club
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Alexis Ohanian, owner of Los Angeles Golf Club
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: William Byron: Reigning Daytona 500 champ joins crowd at TGL match
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