TGL: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s high-tech indoor golf league to tee off in January
By Jack Bantock, CNN
(CNN) — TGL, the high-tech indoor golf league spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is set to tee off at last on January 7, 2025, after a schedule was released Monday.
Originally slated to begin in January 2023, the televised venture was delayed by two years after the inflatable dome of its custom-built Florida venue – the SoFi Center – collapsed due to a power failure last November.
Six teams comprising 24 mic’d up stars of the PGA Tour will compete across a 15-match regular season at the 1,500-capacity arena in Palm Beach Gardens before the postseason begins, culminating in a best-of-three Finals Series showdown for the SoFi Cup on March 24.
Televised on ESPN, the venture is the brainchild of TMRW Sports – a company co-founded by Woods and McIlroy – and is aiming to attract a younger audience to golf through its virtual course and stadium concept.
Golfers on each four-player team will hit tee and approach shots into a 64-by-53-foot simulator before moving to the GreenZone; a green that can be uniquely rotated and sloped on each hole thanks to a turntable and actuators under its surface.
Tickets for single matches, which are contested over two sessions and 15 holes, start from $160 and will go on public sale from October 29.
The makeup of the teams’ various ownership groups makes for a who’s who of sporting heavyweights, with tennis sisters Serena and Venus Williams, NBA stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry, as well as Liverpool football club owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG), among the backers.
Who is playing?
The January 7 curtain-raiser sees New York Golf Club, headlined by two-time major champion Xander Schauffele, take on The Bay Golf Club.
Schauffele, who scooped both the PGA and Open Championships respectively in a golden 2024, will be joined by fellow Americans Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young, as well as England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, to face off against Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg, Australia’s Min Woo Lee, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark of the US.
Woods will be the star attraction of the second match a week later, as his Jupiter Links Golf Club team debuts against the all-American quartet of Atlanta Drive GC: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover.
The 15-time major winner played all four majors for the first time since his 2021 car crash this season but has not competed since missing the cut at the Open Championship in July.
After undergoing successful back surgery last month, 48-year-old Woods said he hoped to “get back to normal life activities, including golf.”
TMRW co-partner and world No. 3 McIlroy will first be in action on matchday four when his Boston Common Golf side competes against Woods’ team. The Northern Irishman and world No. 2 Schauffele represent the highest-ranked players in the competition, owing to the absence of runaway ranking leader Scottie Scheffler.
Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau are the other two members of the top-10 not present in the league. Spain’s Jon Rahm had been slated to compete but withdrew last November, and the following month joined LIV Golf – none of whom’s players feature in TGL.
TGL teams
Atlanta Drive GC
Justin Thomas (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Lucas Glover (USA)
Boston Common Golf
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Keegan Bradley (USA), Adam Scott (Australia)
Jupiter Links Golf Club
Tiger Woods (USA), Max Homa (USA), Tom Kim (South Korea), Kevin Kisner (USA)
Los Angeles Golf Club
Collin Morikawa (USA), Sahith Theegala (USA), Justin Rose (England), Tommy Fleetwood (England)
New York Golf Club
Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Rickie Fowler (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), Cameron Young (USA)
The Bay Golf Club
Ludvig Åberg (Sweden), Wyndham Clark (USA), Min Woo Lee (Australia), Shane Lowry (Ireland)
TGL schedule
Regular season
January 7: New York GC v The Bay GC
January 14: Los Angeles GC v Jupiter Links GC
January 21: New York GC v Atlanta Drive GC
January 27: Jupiter Links GC v Boston Common GC
February 4: Boston Common GC v Los Angeles GC
February 17: Atlanta Drive GC v Los Angeles GC, Atlanta Drive GC v The Bay GC, The Bay GC v Boston Common GC
February 18: Jupiter Links GC v New York GC
February 24: Los Angeles GC v New York GC, Boston Common GC v Atlanta Drive GC
February 25: The Bay GC v Jupiter Links GC
March 3: The Bay GC v Los Angeles GC, New York GC v Boston Common GC
March 4: Jupiter Links GC v Atlanta Drive GC
Postseason
Semifinals: March 17, March 18
Finals Series: March 24, March 25
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