Tiger Woods set to make debut in indoor golf league he co-founded

MIAMI – Tiger Woods will provide Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) with plenty of star power and a likely ratings boost as the 15-time Major champion gets set to make his debut in the tech-infused indoor golf league on Jan 14.

The league’s launch on Jan 7 saw the Bay Golf Club defeat New York Golf Club 9-2 at the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Co-founders Woods and Rory McIlroy both attended the 15-hole match and joined ESPN play-by-play announcer Matt Barrie in the booth.

The two-hour ESPN broadcast of the match drew an average of 919,000 viewers, a figure that is sure to rise this week given it will be a rare look at Woods in competition.

While Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club team were already slotted into the TGL schedule for Jan 14’s 7pm Eastern time (Jan 15, 8am, in Singapore) match, he was confirmed only on Jan 10 as one of the starting threesome alongside Max Homa and Kevin Kisner.

Jupiter Links will face the Los Angeles Golf Club’s trio of Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala for nine holes of alternate shot, or triples, followed by a head-to-head round where each competitor plays two full holes over the final six. Tom Kim is the other member of Jupiter Links, while Tommy Fleetwood completes the Los Angeles team.

Woods’ injury-riddled body has limited his starts in recent years, but TGL offers some reprieve as the two-hour event is held indoors on a playing surface similar in size to an American football field.

The 49-year-old Woods, who has not competed in a PGA Tour event since last July’s British Open where he missed the cut, will hit the opening shot on Jan 14 when he steps up to the Plank, a 376-yard, uphill par-four first.

The sight of Woods, the greatest golfer of his generation, taking aim at a five-storey-high simulator screen before moving to a green that rotates may not be of interest to golf purists. It is, however, one of the rare chances to see him in action these days.

Since missing the cut at the British Open, Woods had back surgery in September, opted not to compete in the 20-player tournament he hosted last December and played with his son Charlie in a 36-hole scramble event.

The TGL was formed in partnership with the PGA Tour with hopes that the fast-paced twist on an age-old sport will help attract new fans.

“It’s not traditional golf, yes, but it is golf,” Woods said during the TV broadcast of the TGL launch that he attended. REUTERS