Woods and McIlroy's 'Collaboration'... "Everything About TGL"

TMRW Sports Creates Screen Golf League
Top 24 Rankers Compete, Opening Match on January 9 Next Year
15-Hole Contest, Total Prize Money of 21 Million Dollars Match

The 'Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA) and the 'Top Showman' Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) have joined forces in screen golf. The screen golf league 'TGL,' created by Tomorrow (TMRW) Sports, co-founded by the two players, is fully prepared. The first match will be held on January 9 next year, with the schedule ending before the major tournament 'Masters' in April.

Tiger Woods (right) and Rory McIlroy lead the screen golf tournament TGL, which will hold its first match in January next year.

The lineup of 24 participating players is spectacular. It includes all the world's strongest players, including Woods and McIlroy. Woods, the 'core of TGL,' will participate as both team owner and player. Woods is listed as a co-owner of the Jupiter Links GC. Another owner is investor David Bleicher, who holds shares in all four major American sports leagues. Woods said, "Having the opportunity to own a team and compete is very exciting," and added, "TGL will increase golf accessibility through a new method combining traditional golf and modern technology." Matches will finish within two hours. Woods said, "A typical golf match takes about 5 to 6 hours. In the smart era, I thought golf should be shorter."

Besides Woods and McIlroy, players include Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Lucas Glover, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner (all from the USA), Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood (all from England), and Minwoo Lee, Adam Scott (both from Australia). TGL stated, "The participating players have a total of 224 PGA Tour wins, including 32 majors," boasting that "they have held the world number one ranking for 886 weeks."

From Korea, the 'young gun' Juhyung Kim is listed. He is the only Asian player participating in TGL. He has already accumulated three wins, including back-to-back victories at last month's PGA Tour Shriners Children's Open. He said, "TGL is an incredible opportunity to reach young generations and fans in Korea and Asia." Woods, who brought Kim into TGL, evaluated him as "impressed by what Kim has achieved at his age. He is an incredibly hardworking player." The inclusion of Minwoo Lee, the younger brother of Minjee Lee who plays on the LPGA Tour, is also a hot topic. Minwoo has two wins on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and won the Asian Tour Macau Open this year. Minwoo said, "It is truly an honor to be part of TGL alongside many players I have watched and respected in golf."

This is the Sofi Center at Palm Beach Gardens, where the TGL screen golf tournament is taking place.
[Photo by TGL]

The venue is the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA, equipped with state-of-the-art golf simulators. It was established by the American fintech company SoFi. The 2,322㎡ SoFi Center can accommodate 2,000 spectators. It consists of virtual courses and a short game complex that enable a new golf experience. Inside the venue, a massive screen measuring 64 feet by 46 feet (19.5m × 14m), about 20 times the size of a standard simulator screen, is installed. Players perform tee shots and approach shots over 50 yards inside the simulator. Putting is done in the 'Green Zone,' designed to resemble an actual green.

TGL operates with six teams of four players each, representing six U.S. cities: Atlanta, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Jupiter. Matches are played between two teams with nine holes of foursomes followed by six holes of singles match play. Three players from each team alternate hitting one ball over nine holes. The six holes are one-on-one matches where each of the three players from each team competes in two holes. If the score is tied after 15 holes, an overtime is played. The player who places the ball closest to the hole with an approach shot wins.

During the regular season, all teams face each other once a week. After the league matches, the top four teams compete in semifinals and finals. To speed up play, a penalty is given if a shot is not played within 40 seconds. Each team has four timeouts, two in the first half and two in the second half. The total prize money is $21 million (approximately 27.4 billion KRW). The winning team receives $9 million (approximately 11.7 billion KRW). All players wear microphones during matches, and all player conversations are broadcast live on the American sports channel ESPN.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.