The TGL, spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is set to feature virtual competition among several top PGA Tour players. However, individuals associated with LIV Golf appear to have reservations about this concept.
An unnamed LIV Golf player has taken aim Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s soon-to-be-launched innovative golf league, ‘TGL’.
TGL will bring simulator golf to life for some of the world’s best players, as 24 of the PGA Tour’s biggest names will compete in a purpose-built stadium across six teams. Both Woods and Mcllroy are set to compete when it launches in January, as well as the likes of Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood.
It appeared that the innovative league was formed in response to the growing threat of LIV Golf towards the PGA Tour, after the launch of the setup was announced at the height of golf’s civil war back in the summer of 2022.
Over 12 months on, the world of golf finds itself in a much different place, with peace talks between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) ongoing following the announcement of their framework agreement in June. It is expected that when a deal is finalised the Tour will work in unison with their LIV rivals.
Whether it allows players to move between the two tours remains to be seen, but one circuit one LIV star clearly has no intention of joining is TGL. The anonymous player told The Telegraph: “Will you be turning in on a Tuesday night to watch guys hitting it into a screen?
“It’s a blatant fop to Tiger and Rory to keep them onside and earn them millions of guess what, ‘guaranteed money’.” Of course money has been at the centre of the dramatic dispute that has plagued the game over the past year-and-a-half.
The financial incentive of the LIV setup is what ultimately tempted so many players to leave the PGA Tour and join the Saudi-funded breakaway league, which eventually led to the Tour doubling down on their initial no-nonsense stance, after deciding to team up with the PIF setup.
Despite their framework agreement announcement in June, it still remains to be seen whether the Saudi fund will in fact play any role in the Tour’s new venture. In a leaked memo to players last week, it was confirmed that the PGA Tour had informed its playing membership that the circuit were receiving investment away from their new Saudi partners.
Per ESPN, the memo read: “We remain focused on reaching a Definitive Agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour, but not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors. All of this activity reinforces the Tour’s strong position and our potential for growth.”
