Although there have been many parallels between Rory McIlroy’s golf league TGL and the structure of their LIV Golf competitors, the four-time major winner has quickly refuted these claims.
LIV Golf is in “no man’s land,” according to Rory McIlroy, who clarified the main distinction between the Saudi-backed series and his soon-to-be-launched league TGL.
Tiger Woods, another well-known player on the PGA Tour, and McIlroy announced last year that they were forming a new circuit called TGL. The league made its rules and format public in recent weeks in advance of its planned New Year’s launch.
24 players, including McIlroy and Woods, will compete in six teams at the specially designed SoFi Center, which has an indoor chipping and putting area called the “green zone” and a cutting-edge golf simulator.
The league has been compared to its competitors at LIV Golf because of its departure from traditional golf and team-based competition. McIlroy, however, dispelled this myth without delay. The Northern Irishman, Tyrrell Hatton, Keegan Bradley, and Adam Scott were revealed as Boston Common’s players for TGL’s inaugural season last week.
The four-time major champion added, “I think [TGL] is meant to be complimentary [to professional golf], this is not meant to be disrespectful in any way,” during a team news conference on Monday. One of the first things Tiger and I said when Mike [McCarley] presented this idea to us was, “If we are going to do this, we are going to have to partner with the PGA Tour in some way and make this complimentary.”
“That was the initial concern. This was more about “how can we be added into the entire system” than it was antagonistic at all.” While putting up a strong fight, McIlroy also took a playful jab at his opponents in the LIV. “We are putting on a competitive act, and while the game is different, it’s not the same golf you play every week,” he continued.
I don’t want to spend this time discussing LIV, but you could argue that they have either not innovated enough to depart from traditional golf or have innovated too much to do so. This is so different from what we know golf to be, and they seem to be stuck in a sort of no-man’sland.”
The move away from a more traditional setting of pro golf was one LIV had prided itself on since its inception last June, a concept that has since been mirrored by TGL. McIlroy also revealed on Monday the reasoning behind the innovative setup, and the audience they are hoping to reach.
“I think trying to appeal to a wider sports audience,” he added. “We are trying to sort of bring that court-side feel to a basketball game to golf in some ways. We are trying to let the fans that are at least in the arena get close to the action. Then I would say for the people tuning in at home, having us mic’d, having us being a little more interactive.
“I feel like when you watch a regular PGA Tour event you are a few steps removed from us in terms of you might pick up a couple of conversations here and there, but you are not getting right in on the action, and I think that is really important. I think that speaks more to the traditional golf fan, but what we are trying to really do here is broaden the demographic.”
I don’t want to spend this time discussing LIV, but you could argue that they have either not innovated enough to depart from traditional golf or have innovated too much to do so. This is so different from what we know golf to be, and they seem to be stuck in a sort of no-man’sland.”
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