A preview of the upcoming TGL experience at SoFi Center.
Kindly
It might have been delayed a year but TGL is coming. And directly on 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, January 7 on ESPN, in primetime. That night’s matchup will feature The New York Golf Club – Xander Schauffele, Cam Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler – taking on The Bay Golf Club – Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry.
Wait, where are Woods and McIlroy, the two biggest stars in the sport, who founded the league? Fair question. Woods is saving up for the second week of TGL action on January 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, slated to follow the network’s wild card NFL playoff game live and gobble up an increasingly valuable NFL audience. McIlroy fans will have to wait until Jan. 27 to see his virtual golf debut, when he takes on Woods’ team.
The TV schedule for a made-for-TV, mixed-reality golf league is extremely deliberate (you can read it in full below). The league hopes to map the tremendous viewership that ESPN gets in January from football fans and give them something we’ve never seen before. All games will be played in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., at a purpose-built venue called the SoFi Center. Sixty-five percent of the matches will be shown on ESPN, including all Tiger Woods matches.
The schedule made for difficult logistics. The players involved have their own full-reality Golf schedules must work, and the entire league schedule will be completed before the first major championship of the year, the Masters, in early April. That means making the most of the PGA Tour’s visits to Florida in February.
Monday, February 17 – Presidents’ Day – is set to be the biggest day in the league’s fledgling history. It will feature the only triple header of the season, including two games involving Justin Thomas’ team, Atlanta Drive GC, and two games involving The Bay GC. The Presidents Day games are a not-so-tacit admission that these guys are busy. The triple-header comes a day after the conclusion of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles — a signature event likely to include most, if not all, of TGL’s competitors — but the week e 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 just 14 hours later, hitting balls on a massive simulator screen in South 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, 7pm 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
February 17, 1pm ESPN: Atlanta Drive GC vs. LA GC
February 17, 4pm ESPN: Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay GC
Feb. 17, 7 p.m. ESPN2: Bay GC vs. Boston Common Golf
February 18, 7:00 PM ESPN: Jupiter Links GC vs. New York GC
Feb 24, 5pm ESPN2: LA GC vs NY GC
Feb. 24, 9 p.m. ESPN2: Boston Common Golf vs. Atlanta Drive GC
February 25, 9pm ESPN: Bay GC vs Jupiter Links GC
March 3, 3pm ESPN2: The Bay GC vs. LA GC
March 3, 7:00 PM ESPN 2: New York GC vs. Boston Common Golf
March 4, 7pm ESPN: Jupiter Links GC vs Atlanta Drive GC
March 17-18, 19:00: Semi-final matches
March 24-25: Final series
How to see it in person
Golf fans will be given plenty of opportunities to tune in to TGL, but how about seeing the action in person? The SoFi Center was built specifically to house the league — with a 3,400-square-foot screen and a built-in short game area — in front of a live audience. In total, TGL compares the indoor venue to “the size of a football field”, leaving room for 1,500 fans to sit. Or stay.
The price to be one of those 1,500 for every single match starts at $160. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. ET on October 29, but will be available through presale on October 28.
