Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL setup was forced to postpone their maiden season this year, and bosses have now taken extra measures to avoid similar in 2025
Speculation has abounded about the health of the relationship between friends Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods amid golf’s civil war
The soon-to-be-launched innovative golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, TGL have spent almost £39million ($50m) to better equip their SoFi Center home in Florida.
TGL was initally set to launch in January of this year, with some of the biggest names from the PGA Tour battling it out in a simulated competition based out of their state-of-the-art facility in West Palm Gardens. Just months before the inaugural event, though, the league’s bosses were forced to postpone the season by 12 months.
The decision came after the SoFi Center suffered severe damage, most notably to its inflatable domed roof, as Woods and McIlroy were dealt a major blow in their roll out of the never-seen-before league.
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A statement at the time read: “Following discussions with key partners, including players, our six team ownership groups, PGA TOUR leadership and our commercial partners, SoFi, ESPN and Palm Beach State College, the decision has been made to postpone the start of the TGL season until early 2025.
“This decision came after reviewing short-term solutions, potential construction timelines, player schedules, and the primetime sports television calendar. Despite this new timeline for the venue, we remain excited about the future of TGL and will continue to build excitement between now and the start of the season with our players, fans and teams.”
Nine months on, the postponed launch is growing ever closer, and to ensure everything goes to plan those in charge have expensed for a more permanent structure at their Florida base per The Palm Beach Post. Aside from their stadium issues, Woods and McIlroy were dealt another blow in late 2023.
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This came after one of golf ‘s biggest names in Jon Rahm announced he had withdrawn from the roster just weeks before making the move to LIV Golf. Things then became even trickier for TGL bosses after Rahm persuaded another member of the innovative league in Tyrell Hatton to make the Saudi switch.
This saw Hatton’s name removed from the roster, having already been assigned a spot on one of the six TGL franchises, joining McIlroy, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley at Boston Common. Despite the loss of Rahm and Hatton, the roster has since been completed, with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama taking the vacant spot alongside McIlroy with the Boston franchise.
The Northern Irishman’s Olympic teammate Shane Lowry has also joined the start-up league this year, before the player list was officially completed. Alongside Lowry, the final three spots were taken by Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Ludvig Aberg. The last four have since made up The Bay Golf Club franchise, representing California.
