TGL: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s golf careers and what you need to know

Golf’s latest venture – the indoor “Tech League” launched by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and backed by other sports superstars – will kick off on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Fifteen of the current top 20 players in the world are among the 24 PGA Tour players signed in the first season.

All events will be televised and played at a purpose-built venue in Florida.

Serena and Venus Williams are among the supporters, as are Stephen Curry and Liverpool boss Fenway Sports Group.

While many details are still to be finalized – such as the prize money on offer, the name and owner of one of the six teams, or which team each golfer will play for – here’s what we know.

The league, called TGL, will be run by TMRW Sports, a technology-focused sports company founded by Woods and McIlroy in August 2022.

It will feature six teams of four players each, playing each other once in a league format. Only three of the four players will compete in any one event.

Five teams have been announced so far, with names linked to the US cities of Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

NBA star Curry is involved in building the San Francisco team, while tennis superstar Serena Williams and sister Venus are also lending support to the Los Angeles team. Fenway Sports Group has a partnership with Boston.

Each game will be held at Palm Beach State College’s Sophie Center, will last approximately two hours, and will be broadcast live in the United States.

The venue can accommodate approximately 1,600 spectators.

Of course Woods and McIlroy. Spain’s Jon Rahm and USA’s Justin Thomas are the next players to sign.

Two-time major champion Thomas is the only player assigned to the team so far. On October 31, Atlanta Drive GC announced that the 30-year-old would be on their roster.

Since then, world number one Scotty Scheffler has been joined by fellow Americans Patrick Cantlay, Ricky Fowler, Colin Morikawa, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele Among them.

England will be heavily represented, with Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrell Hatton and Justin Rose all confirmed for the match, as is Ireland’s Shane Lowry.

Each game will pit two teams against each other, with the winning team receiving two points.

A game will be divided into two quarters.

The first is a nine-hole “triples match” where all three players will compete in alternating strokes over nine holes. The second session is the six-hole “Singles,” a head-to-head competition in which each golfer will play two holes.

Points are awarded for winning a hole, and the team with the highest score wins. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by the closest penalty shootout.

The top four teams qualify for the semi-finals, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals.

Each hole will begin on a golf simulator, with players hitting tee shots into a giant screen that measures 64 feet by 46 feet, roughly 20 times the size of a standard screen.

For shots of about 50 yards or less, players will switch from the simulator to an adaptive green that uses 189 actuators and jacks to change the slope of the putting surface on each hole.

Unlike the signature holes or courses that most simulators allow players to experience, many of the new holes are designed specifically for the TGL season.