Tiger Woods’ TGL explained; everything you need to know

TGL begins on Tuesday night on ESPN. Here’s everything you need to know about golf’s newest venture.

The launch of golf’s newest league is finally here.

Originally scheduled to debut in 2024, TGL postponed its starting date to Tuesday, January 7, 2025.

Why?

Well, the SoFi Center, the arena slated to host the league’s competitions in Southeast Florida, collapsed on itself in November 2023. TGL then unveiled plans to construct a steel-supported structure in March 2024, thus ensuring that its latest launch will go off as scheduled.

Indeed, that will be the case. ESPN will broadcast the first match live immediately after Pittsburgh takes on the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Everything you need to know about this new endeavor follows below:

Format:

Two TGL teams will square off against each other in a 15-hole match. In Week One, New York Golf Club will face The Bay Golf Club.

Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Xander Schauffele will represent New York, while Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, and Ludvig Åberg will play for The Bay.

Only three of four players per team will play in a given match. Cameron Young is sitting out for New York, while Min Woo Lee will not play for The Bay this time.

The first nine holes will feature a 3-man alternate shot, in which all participants rotate in and out depending on their sequence. It could prove difficult for some players, because having three players involved could make it hard for someone to get into a rhythm. Alternate shot with two players is already tricky. There is also a 40-second shot clock, thus enforcing pace of play and making things a little more challenging.

The format then changes over the final six holes. Holes 10 through 15 are all individual matches but with a rotating twist.

Two players from each team will square off on the 10th hole.

And then, on the 11th, two different players from each respective team will battle head-to-head.

The final two players will then face each other on the 12th hole, and the sequence will repeat on holes 13 through 15.

Each hole is worth one point, and whoever has the lowest score earns said point after putting out. Ties are not worth anything. Whoever has the most points at the end of the 15 hole match wins.

If the two teams are tied after 15 holes, an overtime round will commence. Overtime in TGL is starkly different from the sudden-death playoffs on the PGA Tour.

A 3-on-3 closet-to-the-pin competition will instead take place.

Whichever team hits two shots closer to the hole than their competitors will win the overtime period and, thus, the match.

TGL

The SoFi Center:

It’s a remarkable setting with a playing area comparable to the size of a football field.

At one end, a massive screen stands 64 feet wide and 53 feet tall. Players will hit their drives and approaches off real grass, real rough, and real sand — depending on their lie — into this giant electronic wall. The screen then produces remarkable accuracy and ball shapes — so much so that these shots come close to resembling the real thing. Rory McIlroy even said so himself. Keegan Bradley could not believe how accurate everything was during a recent practice session.

Once a player’s approach finds the putting surface, their attention turns to the Green Zone, a nearly 23,000-square-foot short game area opposite the screen. A real-life bunker also sits beside the green so players can hit real-life sand shots.

“The green is unlike anything I’ve ever seen; it spins 360 degrees and is the size of a basketball court,” Matt Barrie, who will call the action for ESPN, explained to SB Nation.

“The technology underneath the holes undulates the green in real-time, and you don’t even notice. You can’t even tell. They were rolling pretty fast the last time I was there, but the rolls are true.”

To make this futuristic gameplay even more realistic, a ‘Greenskeeper’ will maintain the green throughout the match and change the pin location as needed, like at any golf course around the country. Their tools are even similar too. But on some occasions, the green will rotate to cater to the architecture of the next hole. Even the slopes and undulations will sometimes conform, something that is difficult to visualize but is true. Regardless, this transformative process happens while the competitors tee off on their next hole at the other end of the playing area.

The electronic caddy is another dynamic that will be important to the TGL experience. It’s essentially a large touch screen that sits adjacent to the hole, and players will use their fingers to help align themselves. The caddy will provide players with accurate yardage—meters for the Europeans—for where they want their shots to go. Players will have complete freedom to use this feature to hit wherever and whatever shot they please. Viewers will be able to see players strategize and make a decision using this electronic caddy as well.

Season Long Scoring:

The season-long scoring that the TGL will employ mirrors the points system utilized in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Two points are awarded to a team should they win in regulation. Teams will also receive two points if they win in overtime.

But if a team loses in overtime, they will receive one point.

A regulation loss, meanwhile, does not award any points.

Points are accumulated as the season progresses.

TGL

Schedule:

Matches will take primarily place on Monday and Tuesday evenings and air on either ESPN or ESPN2. Each match is scheduled to take two hours and will feature three of four players from each roster.

There are currently six TGL teams, and their schedules are outlined below by team:

New York Golf Club 2025 Schedule:

Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, and Cameron Young

Tuesday, Jan. 7 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs The Bay Golf Club

Tuesday, Jan. 21 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Atlanta Drive GC

Tuesday, Feb. 18 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Jupiter Links GC

Monday, Feb. 24 — 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Los Angeles Golf Club

Monday, Mar. 3 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Boston Common Golf

The Bay Golf Club 2025 Schedule:

Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry

Tuesday, Jan. 7 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs New York Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 17 — 4 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Atlanta Drive GC

Monday, Feb. 17 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Boston Common Golf

Tuesday, Feb. 25 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Jupiter Golf Links GC

Monday, Mar. 3 — 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Los Angeles Golf Club

Los Angeles Golf Club 2025 Schedule:

Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose

Tuesday, Jan. 14 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Jupiter Golf Links

Tuesday, Feb. 4 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Boston Common Golf

Monday, Feb. 17 — 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Atlanta Drive GC

Monday, Feb. 24 — 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs New York Golf Club

Monday, Mar. 3 — 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs The Bay Golf Club

Jupiter Golf Links GC 2025 Schedule:

Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner

Tuesday, Jan. 14 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Los Angeles Golf Club

Monday, Jan. 27 — 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Boston Common Golf

Tuesday, Feb. 18 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs New York Golf Club

Tuesday, Feb. 25 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs The Bay Golf Club

Tuesday, Mar. 4 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Atlanta Drive GC

Atlanta Drive GC 2025 Schedule:

Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover

Tuesday, Jan. 21 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs New York Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 17 — 1 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Los Angeles Drive Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 17 — 4 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs The Bay Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 24 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Boston Common Golf

Tuesday, Mar. 4 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Jupiter Links GC

Boston Common Golf 2025 Schedule:

Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama

Monday, Jan. 27 — 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Jupiter Golf Links

Tuesday, Feb. 4 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ — vs Los Angeles Drive Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 17 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs The Bay Golf Club

Monday, Feb. 24 — 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs Atlanta Drive GC

Tuesday, Mar. 4 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+ — vs New York Golf Club

Postseason Schedule

The final week of the regular season, which will take place before the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, includes a tripleheader of regions with traditional sports rivalries. The Bay Golf Club and the Los Angeles Golf Club will play first on the afternoon of Monday, Mar. 3. Then, New York and Boston will square off that evening. The final match of the regular season will pit Woods’ Jupiter Links GC against Thomas’ Atlanta Drive GC.

The top four teams in the SoFi Cup Standings will advance to the playoffs, beginning on Monday, Mar. 17—one day after the final round of the 2025 Players Championship. The first semifinal will air that evening at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. The second semifinal will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 18, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The winners from these two semifinal matches then advance to a Best-of-3 Championship Series, set to begin on Monday, Mar. 24 on ESPN2. A specific time for the first finals match has yet to be announced, which makes sense given the network’s commitment to postseason college basketball at that time. ESPN owns the rights to the Women’s NCAA Tournament and the Men’s NIT. Both of those tournaments usually have historically held games on that Monday evening.

ESPN will then air the second and third (if necessary) Championship matches on Tuesday, Mar. 25, beginning at 7 p.m.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.