Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are ushering in a new era of golf, virtually.
The PGA pros announced on Wednesday the launch of their new virtual golf league, TGL. The pair will be joined by a third pro, which the league will announce soon, according to the website.
The virtual league is part of Woods and McIlroy’s new company, TMRW Sports, a technology-driven competition series for PGA Tour pros, which the duo announced with former NBC Sports President Mike McCarley on Sunday.
TGL will consist of six teams of three PGA Tour players, starting January 2024. There will be a 15-match season, followed by playoffs and championship matches.
Woods said in a release per Golfweek that TGL is the “next evolution within professional golf.”
“Embracing technology to create this unique environment gives us the ability to move our sport into prime time on a consistent basis alongside so many of sports’ biggest events,” Woods said. “As a big sports fan myself, I’m excited about blending sports with technology and team elements common in other sports.”
He added that the feeling of seeing “every play, every minute of action” in football stadiums or basketball arenas will be mimicked in TGL’s venue — a custom-built arena that allows fans to sit greenside, per the league’s website.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy echoed Woods in the release, saying that TGL, while still rooted in the traditions of the game, will take a step forward in providing a tech-fueled, “exciting, fan-friendly environment” for people.
“It’s something that inherently isn’t possible in traditional golf — and an aspect of TGL that will set it apart and appeal to a new generation of fans,” Woods said.
The announcement of the new league comes after the controversy surrounding the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed tour that lured several former PGA professionals to the new tour. In June 2022, the PGA announced in a release it would be suspending 17 players who had resigned their membership in order to compete in LIV Golf, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Andy Ogletree. The organization said that playing in the LIV Golf tour violated PGA’s tournament regulations.
Both Woods and McIlroy declined to join the LIV Golf tour, with Woods reportedly turning down an offer worth nearly 10 figures, per NBC. Woods has openly criticized the tour’s format, stating he worries about the development of younger players and whether they would be banned from future majors events.
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He added that he is disappointed in the former PGA Tour members who left the organization.
“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” Woods said.
