Golf emperor Tiger Woods (47, USA) will become an owner and player in the screen-golf-based TGL league when it launches next January.
“Woods has become a co-owner of Jupiter Links GC, the last of the six TGL teams,” the Associated Press reported on Monday.
The team’s other owner is David Blitzer, an investor with stakes in all four sports leagues. Blitzer is an American sports magnate who is a co-managing partner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, owns a 25 percent stake in Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Cavaliers and a minority stake in the NFL’s Washington Commanders. He is also a partner in the English Premier League’s Crystal Palace and a shareholder in MLS’s Real Salt Lake.
TGL is a new technology-based golf league created by TMRW, a sports and entertainment company founded by Woods, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and former Golf Channel president Mike McCauley, in partnership with the U.S. Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour.
“Having the opportunity to own and compete on a team is an exciting next chapter for me,” said Woods. “TGL is a new way to combine traditional golf with modern technology, making the game more accessible.”
TGL matches will be played at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA, with a capacity of 1,600 spectators. Players compete in nine holes of alternate shot and six holes of single shot. The playing field is lined with real grass and shots are taken on a screen 20 times larger than a typical simulator. Shots within 50 yards are played as in a regular golf tournament, and putts are made on green zones that are built to resemble real greens.
The TGL League will begin on January 9th of next year and will end before the Masters in early April. It will be broadcast on the US sports channel ESPN. The prize fund will be $21 million and the winning team will receive $9 million. It’s interesting to note that the matches will end in less than two hours.
“A typical game of golf takes about five to six hours,” Woods said. Today, we’re all on our smartphones, and it’s hard for anyone to spend five or six hours without looking at their phone, so we thought the shorter the game, the better.”
There are six teams of four players per team, with three players from each team competing. Woods hasn’t played since the Masters in April of this year due to a leg injury sustained in a car crash in Los Angeles in February 2021, but he is expected to play in the TGL.
Woods said he has no pain in his right ankle, which was reconstructed in April, but the leg is still not fully functional and he doesn’t know when he will return to competition.
Woods recently carried his son Charlie’s caddie bag at the Norte Navigator 3 Junior Golf National Championship. After walking the entire golf course for four days with the heavy caddie bag on his shoulder, Woods didn’t limp and walked downhill 안전놀이터 with ease. With teammate Stewart Cink confirming that Woods has recently started practicing golf again, expectations are high for his return. The most likely venue for a return is the PNC Championship, a father-son golf tournament. Woods has played the last two years with his son, Charlie, and because it’s an event, Woods played in a cart.
“I’m a little sore from caddying for four days,” Woods said. But I’m glad it’s a flat course,” Woods said.