Collin Morikawa Joins Tiger, Rory as Committed to Play in the TGL

The tech-driven virtual league featuring 18 top players is set to begin next January.

Collin Morikawa is the latest high-profile player to join the new TGL team golf league, which next January intends to debut a prime-time event that will work in partnership with the PGA Tour and fuses advanced tech with live action.

It’s a bit unclear what this will actually look like, but the TGL (The Golf League?) has Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as anchors and will play a 15-match regular season followed by semifinals and a championship match in two-hour TV windows on Monday nights.

Photo courtesy of the TGL

Each of six teams will consist of three players, so presumably every team will play each of the other five. They will play on what the TFL describes as “a data-rich virtual course" in a custom-built arena.

Because matches are played on Monday nights, they will not compete with the usual Thursday-through-Sunday PGA events.

Morikawa, the 25-year-old Cal grad, was announced along with Australian Adam Scott as the latest players to join the TGL. Besides Woods and McIlroy, others committed so far are Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas.

A two-time major champion, Morikawa said he’s intrigued by the opportunity to play in another team event.

“During my amateur and collegiate golf career, I loved team play and the added energy it brought to my game – especially in match play,” he said in the TGL’s news release on Monday. “That has only been elevated with the opportunities I have had to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and I am looking forward to being a part of a TGL team next year as well.

“Beyond that, I think the design of TGL to provide sports fans the world’s best in a weekly, primetime golf competition, from start-to-end in only two hours, will appeal to a broader spectrum of casual golf fans and introduce our sport to younger fans.”

TMRW Sports co-founders Woods, McIlroy and founder and CEO Mike McCarley unveiled plans for TGL last August, promising “a high-tech, high-energy fan experience with fans sitting greenside.”

McCarley said TGL welcomes Morikawa and Scott to the field of talent that will participate.

“As we fill out the TGL roster, the additions of champions like Collin Morikawa and Adam Scott continues to fuel our momentum towards the launch of TGL,” he said. “The caliber of players Morikawa and Scott represent is indicative of the quality of competition we are striving to create within TGL. They both embrace what TGL can provide for fans, a short-form, elite competition in primetime where world-class players square off in team match play.”

Woods, in unveiling plans to TGL last summer, said he believes it can attract new fans by offering a distinctive new twist to the sport.

Image courtesy of TGL

“TGL is the next evolution within professional golf, and I am committed to helping lead it into the future. Embracing technology to create this unique environment gives us the ability to move our sport into primetime on a consistent basis alongside so many of sports’ biggest events,” he said.

“As a big sports fan myself, I’m excited about blending golf with technology and team elements common in other sports. 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.

“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.”

Morikawa, who turned pro out of Cal in 2019, has won five times on the PGA tour, including the 2020 PGA Championship, and also 2021 British Open.

He is No. 8 in the current world rankings and now has career earnings exceeding $20 million.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Kyle Terada, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo