TGL, the new indoor golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is gearing up for its debut in two months. The league has recently revealed details about the weekly gameplay format. It will consist of six three-man teams competing on an indoor simulator in weeknight matches to win the season-long championship.
The gameplay format will feature a modified match play system with two sessions per match:
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Nine holes of “triples” — a three-on-three alternate-shot format
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Six holes of “singles” — a one-on-one match play, with each player playing two holes
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Overtime — If needed, a closest-to-the-pin competition where the first team to place two shots closer to the pin secures victory.
TGL will utilize a hockey-style scoring system for the season-long competition. A win in regulation or overtime will earn two points, a loss in overtime will earn one point, and a loss in regulation earns no points. The top four teams after the regular season will advance to the playoffs, which will feature single-elimination semifinals and a best-of-three championship.
The venue will be a combination of real and virtual elements, featuring a 64-by-46-foot simulator screen for drives and a 97-by-50-yard playing surface, roughly the size of a football field. The playing surface, where players will chip and putt, will have authentic grass and sand for approaches and bunkers. The green itself will measure 15 feet by 27 feet and will include jacks to adjust the slope of the putting surface. The venue can accommodate up to 1,600 spectators.
Five out of the six team franchises have already been sold to ownership groups in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Notably, team ownership groups include owners from NFL, MLB, NBA, and NASCAR.
Atlanta’s team, Atlanta Drive GC, has announced its first selected player: Justin Thomas, a former golfer at the University of Alabama. Other notable players committed to participating in the league include Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, and Tom Kim, among others. The TGL players collectively have 32 major championships and 223 PGA Tour wins, with Woods contributing significantly to both figures.
TGL will premiere on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, on ESPN. The league aims to attract attention during the College Football Playoff championship and NFL wild card playoff games. Subsequent matches will be broadcasted on Tuesday nights throughout the early months of the year, airing on ESPN or ESPN2 and lasting two hours each.
