Golf legends Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are poised to introduce their groundbreaking league in January 2024.
They’ve named this new competition the TGL, which is designed to infuse modern technology into the traditional golf calendar and will be held indoors.
Currently, the inaugural season has attracted participation from 15 of the world’s top 20 players, and it will be hosted in a purpose-built arena located in Florida.
The TGL concept has garnered substantial support from both players and investors, with tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, basketball icon Stephen Curry, and the Fenway Sports Group, owners of Liverpool FC, among the current shareholders.
TGL events will be managed by TMRW Sports, the tech-focused sports company co-launched by McIlroy and Woods in August 2022. The league will feature six teams, each consisting of four players, competing in a league format. Five teams have already been announced ahead of the launch.
In each league session, two points will be at stake, with two sessions played during every match. The first session will involve nine holes of ‘triples,’ where all three players take part in an alternate-shot format over nine holes.
Following this, the second session will comprise six holes of ‘singles,’ featuring a head-to-head competition where each golfer plays two holes.
Teams will earn points for winning each hole, and the match’s winner will be determined by the side with the most points at the end of the two sessions. In the event of a tie, a nearest-the-pin shootout will decide the victor.
Once all teams have faced each other, the top four will qualify for a semi-final, with the winners advancing to a best-of-three final.
Every hole will commence on a golf simulator, but for short-distance shots, players will transition from the simulator to hitting on adaptable greens where the putting surface’s slope for each hole can be adjusted.