TGL: How will the Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods-backed indoor golf event work?
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Some of golf’s leading players swap the fairways for the virtual world as the high-tech, big-money and much-trumpeted TGL finally launches this week. Here, the PA news agency looks at the competition and how it works. TGL is a new fast-paced, indoor team competition fronted by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in which the action is played out on two highly sophisticated golf simulators.
Unofficially, it stands for Tomorrow Golf League but in all literature it is simply referred to as TGL. It was due to launch last year but problems with the inflatable dome roof at its purpose-built arena, the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, led to a 12-month delay.
As well as 15-time major winner Woods and McIlroy, as the faces of the venture, the competition features a number of elite players from the PGA Tour, split into six teams ostensibly representing different American cities. Woods heads up Jupiter Links Golf Club, playing alongside Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner. World number three McIlroy is the star name for Boston Common Golf with his team-mates being US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott.
The other teams are Atlanta Drive GC, Los Angeles Golf Club, New York Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club. Other notable players include Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg and Shane Lowry.
The SoFi Center houses a playing area roughly the size of a football pitch. Half of the arena is dedicated to ‘screen play’, where players will hit balls from a natural surface towards a giant 64x53ft screen. Shots will be played from a grass tee box, fairway grass, rough or sand as appropriate.
