LPGA teams up with TMRW Sports for new women’s indoor golf league

FLORIDA – The LPGA and TMRW Sports announced on Jan 6 a women’s version of the tech-infused indoor golf league that was created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Preparing for a launch in winter 2026 after the upcoming LPGA season, the WTGL will feature the world’s best women golfers competing across a season of fast-paced, team matchplay at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

WTGL will be a hybrid of virtual and real-life play, featuring teams of players hitting shots at a five-storey-high simulator screen before moving to a green that can rotate 360 degrees, creating hole-to-hole variations.

“Partnering with TMRW Sports on WTGL reflects our belief that innovation can help the game reach new fans and create greater visibility for LPGA athletes,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler said in a joint media statement.

“I’ve seen how new formats can engage audiences while showcasing both athlete personality and performance, and WTGL brings that spirit of innovation to the women’s game.

“It creates another global stage for our athletes – one that helps fans connect more deeply with them and continues to elevate the visibility and growth of women’s golf.”

TGL, a prime-time golf league featuring six squads of four players competing in a fast-paced form of team golf, was

founded in 2022 by Woods and McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in partnership with the PGA Tour

.

The league, which also plays at the SoFi Center, started in 2025 and a seventh team will join in 2027.

“Since the launch of TGL a year ago, TMRW Sports has been putting the pieces in place to create a women’s league featuring the best players in the world,” said Mike McCarley, TMRW Sports’ co-founder and chief executive.

“Now, along with the LPGA and its athletes, we look forward to creating a stage to help showcase the stars of the LPGA.”

In the men’s game, PGA Tour winner Thomas Detry is jumping ship to sign with LIV Golf for the 2026 season, The Times of London reported on Jan 6.

His seven-stroke victory at the Phoenix Open last February made him the first Belgian to win a Tour event. He is expected to join countryman Thomas Pieters on Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces team, according to the report.

Detry made 19 of 24 cuts and earned US$3.6 million (S$4.6 million) in prize money in 2025, his third PGA Tour season. The 32-year-old’s world ranking is No. 57.

LIV’s other reported signing is Elvis Smylie of Australia, who is slated to join the all-Aussie Ripper GC roster captained by Cameron Smith.

Ranked No. 127 in the world, Smylie, 23, made two of four cuts and amassed US$76,605 in earnings in his brief PGA Tour career. He claimed the 2024 Australian PGA Championship by edging out Smith, a three-time event winner, by two strokes.

Also on Jan 6, LIV announced the re-signing of tour veteran Sam Horsfield, who will return to Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood’s Majesticks team. The 29-year-old from England placed fifth at LIV’s inaugural event in London in 2022 and achieved a top career finish of second in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2024.

However, Akshay Bhatia turned down a “lucrative” offer to join LIV, Golf Channel reported on Jan 6.

The American, who turns 24 on Jan 31, has won twice on the PGA Tour – the 2023 Barracuda Championship and the 2024 Texas Open. He also advanced to the Tour Championship in each of the last two seasons and finished 2025 as No. 46 in the world rankings. REUTERS