PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy to LIV Golf: "TGL have done this better than you"
PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy has outlined what TGL has 'done better' than the breakaway tour ahead of its much-awaited launch.
Rory McIlroy appears to believe TGL has already done one thing better than the breakaway LIV Golf League.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods' Tomorrow Golf League officially launches on 7 January on ESPN.
The venture is being run by TMRW Sports, the technology-focused company he launched with the 15-time major champion in 2022.
McIlroy told reporters in a short video call this week that TGL is, in his view, doing a better job at connecting with certain fanbases.
"Team golf has been around since 1927 in the professional game – you go back to the Ryder Cup," he said.
"The one thing that TGL has done a good job of is trying to locate the different teams in cities or geographies where you can really plug into the wider sports fan of that city.
"With Boston Common, everyone knowing the intensity in which Boston fans support their teams.
"Fenway [Sports Group] owns the team so plugging into Boston Red Sox fans and everyone else, whether it be the Celtics or the Patriots, that at least gives you a connection to something – which is great.
"We've got Keegan who is from that area so he is so proud to be playing for a Boston sports team. We have that in our favour as well.
"That's what TGL has done maybe a little bit better to connect with certain fanbases, than say LIV for example."
McIlroy also stressed TGL is completely different to the Saudi-backed league.
He claimed the TGL team have 'tried to think of everything'.
Only time will tell if it proves to be a success, he said.
"Obviously there’s only so many weeks in a year," he said.
"There's only so much golf we can all play. I see this as being complementary to everything else that is going on in the world of golf.
"I'm still a traditionalist in a lot of ways. There's no replicating championship golf. That's always going to be around.
"But there are certain things we can do to innovate and appeal to a younger demographic.
"Especially condensing it into a timeframe which is a little bit more digestible and putting it on at a time we’re going to get a few more eyeballs as well.
"We've tried to think of everything and the proof will be in the pudding when it kicks off on 7 January, but we're all very excited about the possibilities of it."
McIlroy fans will have to wait until 27 January to see him in action on TGL.
Boston Common Golf are scheduled to play Woods' Jupiter Links.
The first fixture will see New York take on The Bay.
See the fixtures below, and remind yourselves of the TGL teams...
Date | Team | Team | Score |
7 Jan | New York GC | The Bay GC | TBC |
14 Jan | Los Angeles GC | Jupiter Links GC | TBC |
21 Jan | New York GC | Atlanta Drive GC | TBC |
27 Jan | Jupiter Links GC | Boston Common GC | TBC |
4 Feb | Boston Common GC | Los Angeles GC | TBC |
17 Feb | Atlanta Drive GC | Los Angeles GC | TBC |
17 Feb | Atlanta Drive GC | The Bay GC | TBC |
17 Feb | The Bay GC | Boston Common GC | TBC |
18 Feb | Jupiter Links GC | New York GC | TBC |
24 Feb | Los Angeles GC | New York GC | TBC |
24 Feb | Boston Common GC | Atlanta Drive GC | TBC |
25 Feb | The Bay GC | Jupiter Links GC | TBC |
3 Mar | The Bay GC | Los Angeles GC | TBC |
3 Mar | New York GC | Boston Common GC | TBC |
4 Mar | Jupiter Links GC | Atlanta Drive GC | TBC |
Rory McIlroy |
Adam Scott |
Keegan Bradley |
Hideki Matsuyama |
Justin Thomas |
Patrick Cantlay |
Billy Horschel |
Lucas Glover |
Tiger Woods |
Max Homa |
Tom Kim |
Kevin Kisner |
Justin Rose |
Collin Morikawa |
Sahith Theegala |
Tommy Fleetwood |
Xander Schauffele |
Matthew Fitzpatrick |
Rickie Fowler |
Cameron Young |
Min Woo Lee |
Ludvig Aberg |
Wyndham Clark |
Shane Lowry |
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