Rickie Fowler went ahead and gave insights on several new details about the tech-based league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, which is set to start in 2025. The indoor golf league was scheduled to tee off earlier this year, but since its SoFi venue collapsed after a power outage, the league couldn’t go ahead with its pilot season. Therefore, a new steel venue was constructed and the latest date announced by the authorities was January 2025.
Now, as the preparations for next year are underway, there is some additional information that was collected. Fowler explained some rules and format of the league in a video and also reflected upon the inclusion of a shot clock, a hammer, timeouts, a referee, and the fact tthat golfers would be having microphones. Here’s a detailed info of the rest.
Rickie Fowler Gives Snippets Into Additional Insights Regarding Tiger Woods’ New League
A video that was released by TGL displayed how the holes would be played. Every team will start on the real grass tee box and have a time frame of 40 seconds to take a shot at the 64x46ft simulator screen. Wherever the shot ends up landing on the screen, the golfers would be taking their next shots. It can be from the fairway, the rough, or the sand.
Once the golfers take their ball to the short game area, they’ll come into a space that is like four basketball courts to complete the hole. Then the shot clock will become active for every stroke. The match will be divided into two sessions, of which the first is a three-on-three alternate shot and the second half will have singles matches over the rest of the six holes. If a team triumphs by one hole, then it’ll be awarded with one point.
Coming January 2025 on @espn.
Listen to TGL’s own @RickieFowler talk match format, rules, and team golf. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MwL74ZgBqF
— TGL (@TGL) March 25, 2024
An overall triumph in either regulation will have each team get two points towards the season tally. Finally, the top four teams will get a chance to participate in the playoffs, which will eliminate a single team from the semi-finals and “best-of-three” championship. For added entertainment, teams will have timeouts every night, two per session, and will not follow the same format.
As heard from the TGL authorities, they stated that the referee will be,
“a seasoned veteran when it comes to refereeing top athletes in pressure situations” with experience about “timeouts, shot clocks, and team sports.”
Also, the players will have microphones to unleash player strategies and personal discussions, and everything will be broadcasted on ESPN. Also, a total of six teams will be playing on the league for two hours of weekly matches.
Players like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, and other top-tier entities will be seen in action. Alas, Jon Rahm won’t be teeing it up at TGL after he backed off last year and ended up joining LIV Golf. Thus, only PGA Tour golfers will be allowed to play on the league.
A lot is still coming for the new innovative league. It is to see whether things turn out right this time and Woods’ new initiative manages to reel in young fans as planned.
