Tag: TGL

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Professionals

Restart after stadium disaster: TGL unveils new start date

The Tomorrow Golf League (TGL) is scheduled to start on January 07, 2025. (Source: Instagram @tmrwsports)
The Tomorrow Golf League (TGL) is scheduled to start on January 07, 2025. (Source: Instagram @tmrwsports)

In November 2024, a fault in the temporary power system and the backup systems caused the dome of the SoFi Center to collapse, forcing the organizers around Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to postpone the originally planned start on the 9th of January 2024. The Tomorrow Golf League (TGL) has now published the new start date.

TGL starts in January 2025

One year late, the indoor golf league is set to kick off on January 7, 2025. “In planning the launch of TGL presented by SoFi in 2025, we have now marked the first three Tuesdays in January to introduce sports fans to this new form of team golf,” explained Mike McCarley, co-founder of TMRW Sports with Woods and McIlroy. “January is a great time of year for fans looking for prime-time sporting events, and the launch of TGL will complement the start of the PGA Tour season and capitalize on ESPN’s advertising machine as part of their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” McCarley continued.

Six teams are currently confirmed. Atlanta Drive GC, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, Los Angeles Golf Club, TGL New York and TGL San Francisco. However, only Atlanta Drive and LAGC have full four-man squads so far. The TGL Golf squad as a whole underwent something of an upheaval at the start of 2024 when Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. Hatton was previously a member of McIlroy’s Team Boston Common before joining the Saudi Arabia-funded circuit.

How the indoor golf league works

The Tomorrow Golf League presents an innovative format that challenges the traditional rules of golf. Each event of the season is divided into two sessions, with only three of the four players on a team competing. First, they compete in “Triples”, a 3-on-3 competition over nine holes. This is followed by the “Singles”, in which three duels are played over six holes, with each player on their team playing two holes. If no decision is made, it goes into “overtime”, where the aim is to place the ball closest to the flag. The team that gets two of the three balls closer to the target wins the overtime. In addition, each player wears a microphone during the tournament.

The scoring system is similar to that of ice hockey: a win in regulation time, i.e. the triples and singles, earns a team two points, while the losing team receives none. If the game goes into overtime, the losing team receives an extra point. The regular season consists of 15 events, after which the four best teams advance to the playoffs. These include two semi-finals, which are decided after one game, and a final in a best-of-3 format.

Categories
Panorama

Milestones: Key moments that shaped the 2023 golf year

Greg Norman, the face of the LIV Tour (top left) and Allisen Corpuz as Major winner at Pebble Beach. (Photo: Getty)
Greg Norman, the face of the LIV Tour (top left) and Allisen Corpuz as Major winner at Pebble Beach. (Photo: Getty)

Over the past twelve months, golf has constantly evolved on various levels. All areas of golf are changing over time and are constantly experiencing key moments that point the development of the sport in a new direction. We take a look at various decisions, announcements and moments that have had a lasting impact on golf in 2023.

The OWGR turned down LIV Golf

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) announced in October that players in the LIV Golf League would remain excluded from the world ranking points. The decision resulted from a lack of comparability of the LIV format with other tours and problems such as a lack of cuts and questionable qualification methods. OWGR Chairman Peter Dawson emphasised that the rejection was not politically motivated, but was based on technical reasons. LIV Golf reacted angrily and questioned the trustworthiness of the OWGR system. However, Dawson emphasised that the rejection was not final and LIV could resubmit applications if they showed a willingness to compromise.

Sanctions and suspensions for LIV defectors

After months of discussion and speculation about possible sanctions to be imposed on LIV defectors from the DP World Tour, a decision was made in the middle of the year. The Tour officially imposed sanctions on players who had taken part in LIV Golf League and Asian Tour tournaments without authorisation. The offences against the “Conflicting Tour Regulation” were deemed reasonable and proportionate. The penalties, which include fines of up to Β£100,000 for each individual offence and possible tournament bans, were determined on an individual basis depending on the impact on broadcast partners, sponsors and DP World Tour stakeholders.

PGA-PIF-Deal: Merger of the tours

An earthquake in the golf world: the PGA Tour, the LIV Golf League and the DP World Tour unexpectedly merged under one umbrella at the beginning of June and immediately settled all legal disputes. The new merger, steered by the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), was the result of months of hostilities between the tours. An official statement said the parties have signed an agreement that brings together the rights and operations of the three tours involved “into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that maximises excitement and competition among the game’s best players”.

Delay in the start of “The Golf League”

The premiere of “The Golf League” (TGL), which was originally scheduled to take place in January 2024, had to be postponed to 2025 at the end of the year after a power failure during construction work led to the collapse of the dome of the SoFi Centre on 14 November. Although no injuries were reported and most of the technology was unaffected, the incident had a huge impact on the schedule. The decision to postpone was made after discussions with key partners, including players, team owners, PGA Tour leadership and sponsors. The TGL is confident that the extension will improve the quality. League co-founders Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy expressed disappointment about the delay but remained optimistic about the future of the TGL.

Confirmed: Golf ball rollback will come into force

The USGA and R&A rule makers announced that the driving distance of golf balls will be reduced from January 2028. The new test procedures for the “ODS” (Overall Distance Standard) are intended to limit the effects of increased hitting distances and ensure the sustainability of the sport. The rule changes affect both professional and amateur players. For average male professionals, this means a loss of nine to eleven yards, while proettes can expect a loss of five to seven yards. Male amateur players could hit their ball three to five yards shorter. The far-reaching changes for the recreational sector will take effect from 2030.

PGA Tour players on the DP World Tour

From 2024, PGA Tour players will have the opportunity to compete on the DP World Tour. PGA Tour players ranked 126th to 200th in the FedEx Cup Rankings will receive full membership on the DP World Tour. In addition, all PGA Tour players competing in a Race to Dubai tournament in 2024 will be eligible for Affiliate Membership to earn Race to Dubai points and qualify for the 2024 DP World Tour Playoffs. A new category, “Category 12”, will allow five of these PGA Tour players per week to participate in DP World Tour events.

Progress in ladies’ golf

It is not only men’s golf that is undergoing constant development. A lot has also happened in women’s golf in 2023: never before has so much money been paid out in the women’s leagues as in 2023. On the LPGA Tour, there was a total of over 101 million dollars in prize money. In addition, the US Women’s Open was held at the legendary Pebble Beach golf course for the first time since the inaugural Women’s Major 72 years ago. This move marked a milestone for women’s golf and increased media exposure and financial support. The event also introduced shot tracker technology, enabling live shot tracking. The prize money was increased to a total of eleven million dollars – a lot of progress that promotes equality in women’s golf.