PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL — A new way to watch golf teed off on Wednesday night with the debut of the TGL. The TMRW Golf League, created by TMRW Sports, is a new venture led by sports executive Mike McCarley and professional golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that brings a creative twist to golf.
Combining technology with top players from the PGA Tour, the TGL is an interesting way to watch the sport, especially since it’s all played indoors at the SoFi Center on the campus of Palm Beach State College.
The league will feature weekly two hour competitions airing on prime time ESPN and ESPN+ with teams made up of some of the best players on the Tour.
How does the TGL work?
TGL is the first to combine virtual and real-life golf in a way that’s never been done before. Each match will take place on a field inside SoFi Center, roughly the size of a football field.
The field is divided into two zones. The “ScreenZone” is for tee shots and approach shots off an actual grass tee box into a giant 64x53 screen simulator, and the “GreenZone” is for short game shots and putting. The 22,475-square-foot GreenZone sits on a rotating turntable, featuring sand bunkers and different pin locations.
Players from the BGC and the NYGC on the putting green at the first match of the TGL on January 8.
The matches will be split into two parts: 9 holes of Triples, where three players on each team alternate shots, and 6 holes of Singles, with head-to-head matchups between players from different teams. Each hole is worth 1 point, and the team with the fewest shots wins a point. The team with the most points at the end wins the match.
A unique feature of TGL is “The Hammer,” a rule that allows teams to increase the value of a hole by one point. This adds another layer of strategy and extra pressure.
The Teams
The league will feature 6 teams, each representing a different city. Here is the roster for the inaugural 2025 season:
- Atlanta Drive GC: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, and Billy Horschel
- Boston Common Golf: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hideki Matsuyama
- Jupiter Links Golf Club: Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner
- Los Angeles Golf Club: Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood
- New York Golf Club: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, and Cameron Young
- The Bay Golf Club: Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, and Shane Lowry
The Season Format and Playoffs
The TGL will follow a points system similar to professional hockey, where a win is worth 2 points, and a loss in overtime earns 1 point. During the regular season, teams will play each other in a round-robin format to score accumulated points.
The top four teams in the regular season will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs will start with a single-elimination semifinal and end in a best-of-three finals series.
Will the TGL be the "new era" of golf?
With more than 20 professional golf tours, including the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the TGL creates a creative way for these players to play golf. The uniqueness of a competitive round of golf played inside a massive building is captivating, but will it hold up to the already established professional tours?
The classic format of the PGA Tour is hard to veer away from. This new era of professional golf puts a fresh spin on the game but will have many kinks to work out. For example, leagues like the XFL and the USFL took years to figure out before rule changes. The two eventually merged into the UFL for the 2025 season.
However, many of these players must account for the many different factors around the course, not just their swing. Rain, wind, and hazards play a major role in the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, but being indoors at the SoFi Center, players can swing away without any of these conditions in mind.
Watching a prime-time telecast of professionals hitting at a glorified golf simulator may be boring to some. Still, with the advanced technology in place, the TGL could take off for golf enthusiasts to enjoy in the comfort of their homes.
The debut match on Jan. 8 was between the New York Golf Club and the Bay Golf Club. BGC defeated NYGC 9-2. Next week's matchup between the Los Angeles GC and the Jupiter Links GC will air on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+.
The TGL is played every Tuesday, with Monday games added later in the season.
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