Tiger and Rory Won’t Play in Opening Match of Their New Golf League TGL

TGL, the hybrid virtual golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, will begin play without either of its cofounders on the course.

The first-of-its-kind indoor competition released its 15-match regular-season schedule Monday, and neither Woods’s Jupiter Links Golf Club nor McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf will tee it up on opening night, Jan. 7. 

Instead, New York Golf Club is set to face The Bay Golf Club at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. New York is composed of Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Cam Young. The Bay is headlined by Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, and Min Woo Lee. Each of TGL’s six four-player teams will use only three golfers in each of its five matches throughout the regular season.

Woods and McIlroy both have homes in Jupiter, Fla., just a few miles away from the 1,500-seat SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, where all TGL matches will take place. Golfers will hit tee and approach shots into a simulator projected onto a 3,400-square-foot screen (64×53 feet), and play shots inside 50 yards at the 22,475-square-foot short game area, which has a green that can transform to create a variety of putts.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see one or both of Woods and McIlroy at the league’s debut match, even though they won’t be playing. A TGL spokesperson tells Front Office Sports that plans for the first match are still in development and will be disclosed at a later date. 

The 2025 PGA Tour season begins in Maui at The Sentry on Jan. 2–5. McIlroy did not play that tournament last year, but many top golfers do annually, as it’s now one of eight signature events with a $20 million purse. TGL’s six teams will compete for $21 million throughout the season, with the eventual winning club earning $9 million. 

Jupiter Links will play Los Angeles Golf Club in TGL’s second match Jan. 14, but whether Woods will be able to compete remains unknown. The 15-time major champion had back surgery in September. When asked about his availability, TGL pointed Front Office Sports to the PGA Tour’s statement that noted his announcement “did not include a timetable for his return to golf.”

Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner round out Jupiter Links, while Los Angeles features Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood. 

TGL’s marquee match will come Jan. 27, when McIlroy’s Boston Common makes its season debut against Woods and Jupiter Links. Easily TGL’s two biggest stars, either Woods’s or McIlroy’s teams will be featured in nine of the 15 matches, leaving just six broadcasts without one or the other.

ESPN will air 10 TGL matches and the other five will be on ESPN2, which should give the league some nice exposure to casual sports fans. The league’s debut is coming one year later than originally planned, after SoFi Center’s air-supported dome collapsed in November 2023, and TGL’s launch was delayed 12 months. The venue now has a steel roof structure. 

TGL parent company TMRW Sports was valued at $500 million in a Series A funding round that was completed this summer.