You’ve seen the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, but starting Tuesday, January 7, there’s a new golf league for fans to enjoy, the TGL. Backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the TGL begins its inaugural season tonight, airing at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on ESPN and streaming on ESPN Plus.
Featuring many of golf’s best players, the TGL is a new type of golf league, featuring a unique match-play format and teams, all taking place in a state-of-the-art indoor arena that combines a simulator and an adjustable green. Matches will air on Mondays and Tuesdays during primetime over the next few months.
This first match airing on January 7 will feature the New York Golf Club, featuring Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, going up against The Bay Golf Club, represented by Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark and Shane Lowry. Scott Van Pelt, Matt Barrie and Marty Smith are serving as the ESPN telecast team for the inaugural season.
In TGL, each match will feature two teams of three players in a 15-hole match that includes nine holes of "Triples" (three vs three alternate shot) and six holes of Singles (head-to-head play). The team with the fewest shots to complete a hole earns their team one point, if the teams tie then zero points are awarded; there are no carryover points. The team with the most points at the end of the 15 holes wins. If the match is tied after 15 holes, the match will be settled with a three vs three closest to the pin challenge.
Another thing to know about the TGL format is that there is a shot clock, forcing teams to hit within 40 seconds (designed to have the match completed in two hours). The broadcast will also feature unprecedented audio access with all players mic’d; advanced shot data; a production plan featuring robotic and embedded cameras throughout the field of play; and a high-tech, in-venue lighting and video presentation.
The TGL features 24 of the best golfers in the world divided into six teams of four. In addition to the New York Golf Club (Fitzpatrick, Fowler, Schauffele and Cameron Young) and The Bay Golf Club (Åberg, Clark, Lowry and Min Woo Lee), the teams include Atlanta Drive GC (Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel, Justin), Boston Common Golf (Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott), Juniper Links Golf Club (Max Homa, Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner, Tiger Woods) and Los Angeles Golf Club (Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala).
To watch the inaugural TGL match on January 7, you must have access to ESPN or ESPN Plus. The cable channel is available through traditional pay-TV providers or live TV streaming services like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. To watch on ESPN Plus, you can simply subscribe to the streaming service directly, or you can access ESPN Plus through Disney Plus or Hulu with Live TV.
