On Tuesday, golf fans will be treated to a first-of-its-kind viewing experience, in which PGA Tour players will compete against each other in a simulator golf match in the the TGL’s debut.
How it will all turn out is anyone’s guess, but there are a few things we do know. The TGL Golf League, founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and executive Mike McCarley, is currently comprised of six regional teams: Atlanta, Boston, The Bay, Jupiter, Los Angeles and New York.
Tuesday’s match is the first of 15 that will be played between now and March, at the SoFi Center, a custom-built arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Each match features three of the team’s four players, so Tuesday’s matchup between Team New York (Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele) and Jupiter Links (Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner) will be missing Cameron Young (New York) and Tiger Woods (Jupiter).
The format is as follows: three-man alternate shot for nine holes, followed by six holes of singles, in which one player from each team faces another one-on-one. Each of the three players will play two singles holes. Each hole is worth one point. In the event of a tie after 15 holes, a three-man closest-to-the-pin competition will decide the winner.
A match win in regulation or overtime is worth two points, while a loss in overtime earns one point. A regulation loss earns zero points.
Every match will be contested in prime time, and available to view on ESPN and its streaming platforms. At the end of the season in mid-March, the top four teams will play the TGL semi-finals, followed by the championship, which will be a best-of-three series.
So, at this point you may be wondering: What’s at stake here? A whopping $21 million purse is up for grabs, with a $9 million payout awarded to the winning team at the end of the season. That equates to $2.25 million for each of the four players — a pretty sweet payday for a few days of competition.
Check out the full roster of TGL teams, players and the match schedule below.
TGL Teams and Players
Atlanta Drive GC
Patrick Cantlay
Lucas Glover
Billy Horschel
Justin Thomas
Boston Common Golf
Keegan Bradley
Hideki Matsuyama
Rory McIlroy
Adam Scott
The Bay Golf Club
Ludvig Aberg
Wyndham Clark
Shane Lowry
Min Woo Lee
Jupiter Links Golf Club
Max Homa
Tom Kim
Kevin Kisner
Tiger Woods
Los Angeles Golf Club
Tommy Fleetwood
Collin Morikawa
Justin Rose
Sahith Theegala
New York Golf Club
Matt Fitzpatrick
Rickie Fowler
Xander Schauffele
Cameron Young
TGL Match Schedule (ET)
January 7: New York Golf Club vs. The Bay Golf Club, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
January 14: Los Angeles Golf Club vs. Jupiter Links Golf Club, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
January 21: New York Golf Club vs. Atlanta Drive GC, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
January 27: Jupiter Links Golf Club vs. Boston Common Golf, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
February 4: Boston Common Golf vs. Los Angeles Golf Club, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
