Drone footage from the dome that is set to host Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL in January shows the full extent of what looks to be extensive damage to the site in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
A power cut at the site of the SoFi Center resulted in the partial deflation of the dome structure, which was then fully deflated by workers and will remain that way while they carry out repairs to the damage caused.
A statement from TMRW Sports, the Woods & McIlroy company behind TGL, said that there we no injuries and that none of the technology inside was damaged.
"The dome section has been further deflated by our crew and will remain down while they work to remedy the situation," read the statement. "There were no injuries, and no technology was impacted. Other work on site will continue."
Drone footage from the Palm Beach Post though shows that the damage looks pretty extensive to the arena, which is set to stage the hi-tech TGL starting on 9 January.
The dome, which will be used until the TGL's Sofi Center is completed, is around 250,000 square feet and 75 feet high. Meanwhile, the TGL stadium will feature real grass and a simulator screen 20x bigger than normal simulators, while it will also have a capacity for around 2,000 spectators.
There could now be question marks over whether the dome will be ready for the TGL to start in January, given how bad the damage looks.
🚨⛳️😓 #WATCH: A drone video shows the extensive damage done to the dome at the SoFi Center, home to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s new @tglgolf simulator league. (Via: @pbpost) pic.twitter.com/t1J3kOQIluNovember 17, 2023
TMRW Sports says it's still too early to tell if completion will be delayed, but the damage to the dome is not the first setback the TGL has faced during its preparations.
One of its initial 24 players, Jon Rahm, has pulled out of its inaugural season, and, before this week’s DP World Tour Championship, he explained that the reason for it was because it was “more of a commitment than I expected at first.”
The last thing Woods and McIlroy would want is for the TGL to be delayed, so it will be all hands to the pump for their construction team to ensure the start goes as planned.
