New TGL Details Emerge, Including Tiger As the Face of the Secret Sixth Team

File this under the “not-too surprising” category of things. But for those who aren’t aware, the upcoming TGL Golf league is slated to have sixth teams in its upcoming, inaugural season. And, as of publishing, we have some confirmed details, including:

• Justin Thomas will be on the Atlanta Drive GC;
• Collin Morikawa is on the Los Angeles Golf Club;
• Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley and Tyrrell Hatton are all on the Boston Common Golf;
• Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Sahith Theegala, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Kevin Kisner, Min Woo Lee and Lucas Glover all, despite formally committing, remain unaffiliated with a specific TGL team; and
• Jon Rahm is not playing in TGL at all.

As a result, there are no details about (among other things), the New York and San Francisco TGL teams, or the details surrounding the unconfirmed, sixth team.  Or are there…

To date, TGL has announced five teams. But recent trademark filings indicate “Jupiter Links GC” would be the sixth.

Also appears the San Fran team will be named “Golden State Golf Club” pic.twitter.com/5vP9vVc1Ip

— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) November 6, 2023

Yesterday, GOLF magazine writer Sean Zak dug into trademark filings by TGL and uncovered what could be a smoking gun: a filing for “Jupiter Links GC” (and for anyone thinking about, the name is already taken on the mainstream social channels).

Given that the Jupiter, Florida Golfing Royalty are either on teams (Rory, JT, Collin and Keegan) or unlikely to be invited to join one (Brooks Koepka and  Dustin Johnson), the tea leaves are leaning heavily in favor of Tiger Woods, who was recently spotted caddying for Charlie, being the lead player for TGL’s sixth team.

Given the almost inseparable alliance between Tiger and the PGA TOUR, as demonstrated by the event being held at the TGR-designed El Cardonal at Diamante (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico) this weekend, it seems all but certain that Tiger will be running his own team in the alternative league he helped create.

In light of the foregoing, perhaps the more surprising announcement was the details that were announced about how TGL is going to be played.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TGL will be played in a “modern match play” format over 15 holes in two sessions.  Triples—where 3 team members will compete together and alternate on each shot—will be 9 holes and Singles will be 6 holes, with each hole is worth 1 point, ties worth 0 points and no carryovers. What makes this really unique is what most of us are familiar with: TGL will be played on a monstrous 64ft x 46ft Full Swing simulator screen until you get inside 50 yards, where players will then transition to a custom-built, 3,800 sqft putting area that features three 15ft x 27ft Virtual Greens by Full Swing.  189 actuators located under the greens will ensure that every hole features unique slopes and breaks.

What really threw the golf playbook out of the window was the recent announcement of a shot clock, timeouts and a referee.  In brief, the shot clock will force players to hit each shot within 40 seconds (or face a 1 stroke penalty), and each team will have four timeouts per match with two timeouts per each of the two sessions and can be used to help your team (rethink that next shot) or hurt the opposing team (icing out Rory on that difficult, double-breaking putt). The referee will do as the name suggests and enforce all of the TGL’s rules (and penalties thereunder).

While TGL is looking to capitalize on the massive growth of indoor golf, the real question is whether this will be able to attract fans. Indeed, golf has—excluding the TOUR vs. LIV supercharged rivalries in the Majors—suffered decreased ratings in recent years, and fun events like Capital One’s The Match has had to reinvent itself by looking to non-golfers to keep the event fresh. So it will be interesting to see if TGL can bring a fresh spin on the game that attracts viewers and fans.

Cover Image via Golfweek