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'Golf reimagined': McIlroy lauds brand-new Tomorrow's Golf League
Phil Casey, AP • January 7th, 2025 8:30 am
Photo: AP
Rory McIlroy believes the new Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL) is "golf reimagined for the 21st century".
The name of the indoor simulator league stems from TMRW Sports, the company founded by McIlroy, Tiger Woods and former NBC golf executive Mike McCarley to focus on producing "technology-based ventures" in sport and entertainment.
Yet both Woods and McIlroy will not be competing on opening night - which is a year behind schedule - when New York Golf Club take on The Bay Golf Club over 15 holes in front of 1,500 spectators in Florida on Wednesday (NZ time).
Instead, New York's Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele will face The Bay's Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark in alternate-shot triples and singles, with each hole worth a point.
If the teams are tied at the end of regulation, a nearest-the-pin contest will determine the winners.
Woods will feature in week two for his Jupiter Links Golf Club and again in week four against McIlroy's Boston Common Golf, with the top four of the six teams advancing to the play-offs.
"The first thing I would like to have people know is it's golf, but it's reimagined, sort of trying to take golf into the 21st century," McIlroy said.
"We have teams, obviously there's a lot of technology involved, trying to bring it into the digital era. A lot of things that we've taken from other sports like a shot-clock, a timeout, things that you don't see in regular golf."
Wyndham Clark, Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler pose with the SoFi Cup | Photo: AP
The delayed start to TGL was caused by the venue's roof collapsing during a storm which blew through Palm Beach County, although Woods has described that as a "blessing in disguise" as it allowed for more time to produce a better product.
"Tiger and I have been a part of this from day one and whenever you see the concepts and the renderings you think, 'Yeah, that looks really cool,'" McIlroy told ESPN.
"But until you actually stand in here [the SoFi Center] and you see what they've been able to do, I think the scale of it is the thing for me that blows my mind."
Players will hit from tee boxes with real grass, fairway, rough and sand on tee shots and approach shots into a screen measuring 19.5m x 16m.
For shots from around 50 yards or less, the ball will be placed in a short-game area which includes an adjustable green.
"The playing surfaces are very realistic," McIlroy added.
"Whenever you hit it out of the rough, you have to think about whether you're going to get a flyer; whether it's going to come out soft. A lot of things that you would have to think about on a real golf course."
ESPN and Sky Sports will televise the 15 regular season matches, two semi-finals and a best-of-three finals, with each fitting into a two-hour window.
For New Zealand, TGL's launch will be live on Sky Sport 2 from 3pm this Wednesday.
