Woods and McIlroy’s TGL to begin early January

Thursday, 31 October 2024 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

TGL, the technology-driven golf competition headlined by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, will debut on 7 January.

The virtual contest had been slated for a January 2024 launch but was delayed after a power outage caused the collapse of the air-supported dome roof at the SoFi Centre in Florida.

15-time major winner Woods is scheduled to compete on 14 January with his Jupiter Links Golf Club team. Woods has not played since the Open Championship in July and had further surgery on his back last month.

World number three McIlroy, who is part of the Boston Common Golf team, is set to make his debut on 27 January.

The opening contest of the 15-match season sees New York Golf Club – comprised of Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, and Cameron Young – face The Bay Golf Club side of Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, and Shane Lowry.

TGL, which will feature six squads of four players, is run by TMRW Sports, the technology-focused sports company launched by Woods and McIlroy in August 2022.

Serena and Venus Williams, Stephen Curry, and Liverpool owners the Fenway Sports Group are among the backers.

Each team will play five matches in a round-robin league format between 7 January and 4 March, with the top four sides earning a spot in the play-offs, which begin on 17 March. Before each match, teams will pick three players to compete in 15-hole contests that will be split into two sessions: nine holes of three-man alternate shots followed by six holes of singles head-to-head play.

Points are awarded for winning a hole and the team with the most points at the end is the winner. In the event of a draw, the winner will be decided by a nearest-the-pin contest.

The golfers begin holes by hitting shots into a 64x46 ft. screen. Once inside approximately 50 yards, they will switch from the simulator to hitting into live-action greens, which have actuators that can make the putting surface rotate and change.

The entirety of the 2025 season will be held at the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach Gardens.