The simulated golf league involving Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy is scheduled to begin in January 2025. The original start date was originally scheduled for the same month, but the league’s Florida-based facility experienced a roof collapse, which prompted a delay, according to TGL organizers on Monday.
The tournament, which pits six groups of four PGA Tour players against each other in a fast-paced version of team golf, will make its premiere on ESPN in primetime on January 7 inside a brand-new steel-supported building that was presented in conjunction with Monday’s announcement.
The organisers believe that scheduling the next two games for January 14 and January 21 will enable TGL to gain exposure during ESPN’s coverage of both the National Football League and the NCAA football playoffs in the United States.
TGL is run by TMRW Sports, a tech-focused sports company that was established by Woods and McIlroy in 2022. Both Woods and McIlroy, two of golf’s most popular players, have agreed to compete in the TGL.
“January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime time sports and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA Tour season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” TMRW CEO Mike McCarley said in a news release.
The venue for TGL, constructed on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, features 1,500 seats around a field of play that is almost the size of an American football field.
Golfers will tee off from real grass tee boxes to play custom-designed, virtual holes that will be projected on a massive screen. Once teams are inside approximately 50 yards they will transition to live action and finish each hole on a short game complex that transforms between holes.
The GreenZone will use technology to make each hole unique and includes a 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates the green and bunkers to change approach angles, while motorized actuators embedded under the putting surface can morph its topography.
Two months before its initial January 2024 launch date, a power outage caused deflation and damage to the air-supported dome section of the TGL venue.
