TGL, the high-tech team golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and affiliated with the PGA Tour, is ready for its inaugural season.
Originally planning to debut in early 2024, TGL delayed its opening by one year when its new SoFi Center domed stadium, which was under construction in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, partially deflated after a power outage in late 2023. Now, TGL will begin play January 7 with the first of 15 regular-season matches among some of the tour’s biggest stars, TGL announced Monday. Matches will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays in the first quarter of the year and televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+.
The SoFi Center, which will seat 1,500, has been built to put spectators close to the hybrid virtual/real-life action in a “greenside” experience for 15-hole matches featuring a shot clock and designed to finish in two hours. The first match, with three players from the four-man teams, will pit New York Golf Club (Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young) against The Bay Golf Club (Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry) at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Woods will make his debut at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, when his Jupiter Woods Golf Club team that includes Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner plays Los Angeles Golf Club (Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose).
The two other teams in the six-team TGL are Boston Common Golf (McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama) and Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover).
Many of the matches will air after key college and professional football games that are expected to attract big audiences. The season will extend into early March before a four-team semifinal round on March 17-18 followed by the best-of-three final series on March 24-25 for the SoFi Cup.
Tickets start at $160 and go on sale October 29. To hear Fowler explain the format, click HERE. For more information on TGL, its teams and schedule, click HERE.