It may have been delayed a year but the TGL is coming. And straight to your television.
TGL, the long-awaited mixed-reality golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has finally announced its schedule, which begins Tuesday, Jan. 7 on ESPN, in primetime. That night’s matchup will feature New York Golf Club — Xander Schauffele, Cam Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler — going up against The Bay Golf Club — Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry.
Wait, where’s Woods and McIlroy, the two biggest stars in the sport, who founded the league? Fair question. Woods is being saved for the second week of TGL action, on Jan. 14, when his team of Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner will play Los Angeles Golf Club — Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose. That will also be on ESPN, scheduled to come the day after the network’s wild card NFL playoff game and gobble up a few hours ever-valuable promotion in front of the NFL audience. McIlroy fans will have to wait until January 27 to see his virtual golf debut, when he faces Woods’ team.
The TV schedule for a made-for-TV, mixed-reality golf league is extremely purposeful (you can read it in full below). The league hopes to draft off the incredible viewership that ESPN receives in January from football fans and deliver them something we’ve never seen before. All matches will be played in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., at a purpose-built venue named SoFi Center. Sixty-five percent of the matches will feature on ESPN, including all of Tiger Woods’ matches.
The schedule made for difficult logistics. The players involved have their own full-reality golf schedules to work around, and the entirety of the league schedule is to be completed in advance of the first major championship of the year, The Masters, in early April. That means making the absolute most of PGA Tour visits to Florida in February.
Monday, Feb. 17 — Presidents Day — is set up to be the biggest day in the league’s nascent history. It will feature the season’s only triple-header, including two matches involving Justin Thomas’ team, Atlanta Drive GC, and two matches that involve The Bay GC. The Presidents Day matches are a not-so-silent acknowledgment that these guys are busy. The triple-header arrives a day after the end of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles — a Signature Event likely to include most, if not all TGL competitors — but the week of the Mexico Open, an alternate-field event unlikely to include any TGLers. That means if Collin Morikawa wins the Genesis in LA, he’ll be expected to be across the country only 14 hours later, hitting balls into a massive simulator screen in Southern Florida.
TGL Season Schedule, TV info
Jan. 7, 9 p.m. ESPN: New York GC vs. The Bay GC
Jan. 14, 7 p.m. ESPN: LA Golf Club vs. Jupiter Links GC
Jan. 21, 7 p.m. ESPN: NY GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC
Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m. ESPN: Jupiter Links GC vs. Boston Common Golf
Feb. 4, 9 p.m. ESPN: Boston Common Golf vs. LA GC
Feb. 17, 1 p.m. ESPN: Atlanta Drive GC vs. LA GC
Feb. 17, 4 p.m. ESPN: Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay GC
Feb. 17, 7 p.m. ESPN2: The Bay GC vs. Boston Common Golf
Feb. 18, 7 p.m. ESPN: Jupiter Links GC vs. New York GC
Feb. 24, 5 p.m. ESPN2: LA GC vs. NY GC
Feb. 24, 9 p.m. ESPN2: Boston Common Golf vs. Atlanta Drive GC
Feb. 25, 9 p.m. ESPN: The Bay GC vs. Jupiter Links GC
March 3, 3 p.m. ESPN2: The Bay GC vs. LA GC
March 3, 7 p.m. ESPN 2: New York GC vs. Boston Common Golf
March 4, 7 p.m. ESPN: Jupiter Links GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC
March 17-18, 7 p.m.: Semifinals Matches
March 24-25: Final Series
How to see it in person
Golf fans will be given plenty of opportunities to tune in to the TGL, but how about seeing the action in person? The SoFi Center was specifically built to house the league — featuring a 3,400-square foot screen and built-in short game area — in front of a live audience. In total, TGL compares the indoor venue to “about the size of a football field,” leaving space for 1,500 fans to sit. Or stand.
The price to be one of those 1,500 for any single match begins at $160. Tickets go on sale for the public at 10 a.m. ET on Oct. 29, but will be available via presale on Oct. 28.
Sean Zak
Golf.com Editor
Sean Zak is a senior writer and author of Searching in St. Andrews, which followed his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.
