WTGL Has ‘Surreal’ Debut as Newest Women’s Sports League

WTGL, the indoor team women’s golf league modeled after the men’s TGL league co-founded by Tiger Woods, debuted Sunday with high energy, plenty of celebrities in attendance, and some minor hiccups along the way.

Los Angeles Golf Club beat New York Golf Club 3–1 at the SoFi Center, the same 1,500-seat venue in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where all matches in TGL are played, too. 

Excitement was evident among the six LPGA players competing in the league’s inaugural match. “It feels really surreal,” L.A.’s Michelle Wie West, who came out of retirement to join WTGL, said on ESPN after the match. 

No. 1-ranked women’s golf Nelly Korda did not join WTGL for its first season, and earlier this year criticized the league for separating men’s and women’s golfers instead of adding women’s players to TGL. But those who have joined WTGL are pleased with what they’re seeing so far.

“This format is so different,” Wie West in her post-match press conference said. “I think for two hours, LPGA fans can witness our players in a whole different light, and I think we’ll attract new [fans].” L.A.’s Alison Lee added, “Getting more TV time for us is amazing. The more we can put women’s golf on people’s screen, hopefully more people will consume it.”

Gaby López rounded out L.A.’s roster for the match, while Rose Zhang, Linn Grant, and Lydia Ko competed for New York. WTGL has five teams of five players each, with three competing per team in each match, which consists of 15 holes. The season-long purse is $11 million.

Among the sell-out crowd Sunday were a number of notable team and league investors, as well as fellow TGL players. 

• L.A. owners Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams 
• New York vice-governor Andy Cohen (son of New York owner Steve Cohen)
• Former U.S. men’s national soccer team star Jozy Altidore, who is investor in TGL/WTGL parent company TMRW Sports
• NYGC men’s members Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick, and women’s teammate Yana Wilson, who was not competing
• LAGC members Sahith Theegala (men’s) and Kiara Romero (women’s)
• LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler
• TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley
• ESPN vice president Rosalyn Durant

Watch Party 

ESPN’s coverage of the inaugural WTGL match was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET but the network didn’t pick it up until 3:15 as the Arkansas-Virginia men’s basketball game ran long. Zhang hit the first shot in league history just as ESPN switched over. Several TGL matches during that league’s first two seasons also experienced delays due to ESPN’s college basketball coverage running long. Sunday’s match lasted just over two hours, which is typical for the 15-hole format.

Most WTGL matches will be in primetime on Mondays or Tuesdays. The league has media rights deals with ESPN and Ion. TGL matches averaged 498,000 viewers in its first season and dipped slightly to 488,000 viewers in its second. WTGL has its own broadcast team: Justin Kutcher on play-by-play, Emilia Doran as on-field analyst, and Taylor Tannebaum as sideline reporter during ESPN broadcasts and Addie Parker on Ion. 

Tech Trouble?

Wie West was noticeably upset after hitting a 98-yard wedge shot on the 13th hole that hit the green near the pin and spun back to the bottom of the green. “That wasn’t a spinny shot,” she said twice to her teammates with a look of dismay. “That was a low shot.” When she was asked about WTGL’s technology after the match, Wie West said, “I thought it was pretty accurate. Obviously it’s different, right. It’s different from green grass golf. It’s different. But it’s as good as it can be. It’s definitely a learning curve.”

Some TGL players have had similar instances of seemingly not agreeing with how the simulator technology read their shots. Full Swing—a golf simulator company Woods has been invested in since 2025—is the official technology partner of TGL and WTGL. Versant, the publicly-traded Comcast spinoff company that owns Golf Channel, bought Full Swing earlier this year, with Woods remaining as an investor.