What is the TGL golf league? What to know about Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy's venture

What is the TGL golf league? What to know about Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy’s venture

Posted by Admin January 6, 2025 Golf

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Step aside, LIV Golf: There’s a new golf league in town. This one also features some of the best golfers in the world, only they’re still allowed to participate in PGA Tour events.

Oh, and did we mention Tiger Woods is involved?

TGL tees off Tuesday from a brand new interactive golf facility in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, not far from the homes to two of its founders, Woods and Rory McIlroy. Both stars have their own teams and will compete throughout the three-month season, so long as injuries and other golf commitments allow.

The fledgling league has a media sponsor in ESPN that will make sure its matches are on TV and live streamed through its championship round at the end of March. It promises to bring technology never before seen in the sport, primarily through its enormous simulator screen matched with a giant mutating putting green complete with bunkers filled with the same sand found at the Masters.

Watch TGL golf live on ESPN+

Here’s everything you need to know about TGL, including its rules, format, teams and schedule:

What does TGL stand for?

No, the “T” does not stand for Tiger. It’s TMRW Golf League, a reference to TMRW Sports, the name of company that Woods, McIlroy and Mike McCarley founded to get TGL and other projects off the ground.

“You go through a bunch of different branding exercises with different agencies and at the end of it what you find is if you’re creating a sports league everyone uses the acronym anyway,” McCarley said. “So start with the acronym because that’s what it’s eventually going to be called once people start to realize what it is and how they refer to it.”

That name won’t appear in any of the branding around the league, though. Its official name is TGL presented by SoFi.

How does TGL work?

TGL pits two teams of three players against each other in a mix of simulator and traditional golf. Players tee off from a mat into a 64-by-53-foot screen. There will be fairway, rough and sand surfaces to hit from, as well. When the ball lands about 50 yards away from the pin, players will transition to the “Green Zone,” a 3,800-square-foot green that can be adjusted for variety on each hole.

Rounds consist of 15 holes: The first nine are triples (all three players alternate shots) with the last six as singles (1 vs. 1 play where each golfer plays two holes). The team with the lowest score on a hole wins a point, and the team with the most points at the end of the match wins. If the teams are tied, the round goes to overtime, a closest-to-the-pin competition. The overtime continues until one team has the two closest shots.

A point system will determine the four teams that make the playoffs at the end of the regular season:

Win: 2 points
Overtime loss: 1 point
Regulation loss: 0 points

If there is a tie for playoff seeding, the team that won the most holes over the course of the season will get the nod.

What are the TGL golf players?

There are six teams in TGL made of current PGA Tour golfers and including some of the top players in the world rankings. The teams represent cities and regions across the country from New York to LA (and including Jupiter, home to several of golf’s biggest stars).

Atlanta Drive GC: Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas
Boston Common Golf: Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott
Jupiter Links Golf Club: Max Homa, Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner, Tiger Woods
Los Angeles Golf Club: Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala
New York Golf Club: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young
The Bay Golf Club: Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Shane Lowry

What is Tiger Woods’ team?

Tiger Woods is part of Jupiter Links Golf Club, along with Max Homa, Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim (perhaps surprisingly, none of his teammates live in Jupiter). You won’t be seeing him in action in Tuesday’s debut, though. Tiger’s team plays its opener next week.

January 7: New York vs. Bay, 9 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
January 14: LA vs. Jupiter, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
January 21: New York vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
January 27: Jupiter vs. Boston, 6:30 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 4: Boston vs. LA, 9 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 17: Atlanta vs. LA, 1 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 17: Atlanta vs. Bay, 4 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 17: Bay vs. Boston, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 18: Jupiter vs. New York, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
February 24: LA vs. New York, 5 p.m., ESPN2 | ESPN+
February 24: Boston vs. Atlanta, 9 p.m., ESPN2 | ESPN+
February 25: Bay vs. Jupiter, 9 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
March 3: Bay vs. LA, 3 p.m., ESPN2 | ESPN+
March 3: New York vs. Boston, 7 p.m., ESPN2 | ESPN+
March 4: Jupiter vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
March 17: Semifinals, 7 p.m., ESPN2 | ESPN+
March 18: Semifinals, 7 p.m., ESPN | ESPN+
March 24: Finals round 1, ESPN2 | ESPN+
March 25: Finals rounds 2-3, ESPN | ESPN+

How to watch TGL golf: Time, TV schedule, streaming info

Who: New York Golf Club vs. The Bay Golf Club
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 7
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live streaming: ESPN+ | Fubo

Watch TGL live on Fubo

Palm Beach Post staff reports contributed to this story.

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