Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the PGA Tour have made a series of huge announcements which could decide the future of golf.
Woods and McIlroy, the game’s two most popular players, have led the PGA Tour’s fightback against LIV Golf – the controversial, Saudi-backed breakaway series.
Woods and McIlroy have been vocal opponents of LIV Credit: Getty
This is how the event is expected to lookCredit: TMRW Sports
The pair have teamed up to create TGL: a stadium-based, high-tech golf league in conjunction with the PGA Tour, starting in January 2024.
Six teams of three players will hit shots into a big screen and then move to a tech-infused short-game complex in a two-hour broadcast on Monday nights, designed to attract a new audience.
“We all know what it’s like to be in a football stadium or a basketball arena where you can watch every play, every minute of action unfold right in front of you,” Woods said in a press release.
“It’s something that inherently isn’t possible in traditional golf and an aspect of TGL that will set it apart and appeal to a new generation of fans.”
The announcement came a day after Woods and McIlroy launched TMRW Sports, a company created to take golf into a new tech-based future.
And it follows a raft of big changes on the PGA Tour announced by commissioner Jay Monahan earlier on Wednesday.
Monahan has made immediate changes on the PGA Tour Credit: Getty
In order to stem the flow of high-profile players to LIV Golf, the Tour has immediately introduced a $500,000 (around £424,000) minimum salary for its players and a $5,000 (around £4,200) buffer for missed cuts.
Monahan also revealed the game’s top players have agreed to compete against each other in 20 PGA Tour events per season.
Four more events have been given ‘elevated’ status, in addition to the eight announced earlier this year, and these will now boast an average purse of $20million (around £16.9m) to keep pace with LIV Golf.
The top players will all compete in these 12 events, as well as the four Majors, the Players’ Championship, and three events of their choosing.
McIlroy spoke ahead of the Tour Championship Credit: Getty
Woods and McIlroy led an unprecedented meeting of 23 influential players last week to lead the response to LIV Golf, which is set to pull world no.2 and Open champion Cameron Smith as its latest big-name acquisition.
“Everyone in that room realised that this is the best way forward,” McIlroy said. “We have all made a commitment to get together more often to make the product more compelling.”
Momentum is starting to shift against LIV, with the majority of golf’s biggest names uniting against it after a wave of defections from the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
The Saudi-backed league does not yet have Official World Ranking Points, which means some of its players will not qualify for next year’s Majors, while rebels have to wait until 2024 for a lawsuit against the PGA Tour to start.
Smith joining LIV could hit the Tour hard Credit: Getty
Woods, McIlroy and the PGA Tour will hope Wednesday’s announcements give those on the fence a multitude of reasons to reject LIV’s advances in the meantime and strengthen their position after the courts reach a verdict.
Asked if LIV Golf players who were impressed by the changes to the PGA Tour would be welcomed back, Monahan said: “No.
“They’ve joined the LIV Golf Series and they’ve made that commitment and many have made a multi-year commitment.
“I’ve been clear throughout, every player has a choice and I respect that choice. I think they understand that.”
