Inaugural TGL Season in 2024 to Include 13 of Top 20 in Official World Golf Ranking with Combined Victories in 32 Major Championship, 223 PGA TOUR and 119 International Events
October 17, 2023 – (Orlando, Fla.) – PGA TOUR stars Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Lucas Glover, Min Woo Lee and Kevin Kisner announced their commitment to complete the 24-player roster of TGL presented by SoFi, a new golf league that fuses advanced tech and live action with six teams of PGA TOUR stars across a season of matches in prime time starting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, on ESPN and ESPN+. These players join the sport’s top names including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala and Billy Horschel.
This announcement was made by TMRW Sports co-founders Woods, McIlroy, and founder and CEO Mike McCarley.
“This is a milestone day for all of us at TGL presented by SoFi. To add five players of this caliber and finalize our inaugural roster of 24 PGA TOUR stars who will comprise our six TGL teams furthers our momentum for our first event in January,” said McCarley.
Patrick Cantlay: Cantlay, who just recently got married after going 2-2-0 for the U.S. Team at the Ryder Cup, is currently ranked No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The eight-time PGA TOUR champion and 2021 FedExCup winner has been in the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking since June of 2021. A California native, Cantlay started playing at age three, starred at UCLA and also played in the 2011 Walker Cup and Palmer Cup.
“The more I talked to the other players involved in TGL, the more I wanted to be a part of the competition. This is a great opportunity to showcase golf in a new tech-forward format during primetime. TGL will give us a chance to not only highlight our skills as players, but also showcase a side of ourselves different than what fans traditionally see from us on the course,” said Cantlay.
Wyndham Clark: Clark enjoyed a breakthrough season on the PGA TOUR in 2023 with his first TOUR win at the Wells Fargo Championship and followed with his first major championship victory at the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club. Additionally, Clark played on his first Ryder Cup team with a record of 1-1-1. Clark grew up in the Denver area playing at Cherry Hills Country Club. Clark’s college career began at Oklahoma State before transferring to the University of Oregon where he won the 2017 PAC-12 title. Clark played basketball in high school at Valor Christian alongside NFL star Christian McCaffrey.
“This year has been a bit of a dream for me to have my first PGA TOUR win, my first major championship victory and to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup. Golf is a humbling game, so it was extremely rewarding to see my hard work translate to success on the course this year. I’m beyond excited to continue the dream by committing and joining this exceptional group of players on TGL,” said Clark.
Lucas Glover: Born and raised in South Carolina, Glover’s love of golf comes from his grandfather, Dick Hendley, who gave him a cut-down club when he was three years old and first took him to the Masters at age six. Hendley, a fellow athlete in the family, was a standout in football and baseball at Clemson. Henley and Glover are the first grandfather and grandson duo to be inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame. Glover enjoyed a resurgence to his PGA TOUR career with two wins in 2023 bringing his career total to six PGA TOUR victories, including the 2009 U.S. Open. Earlier this year, he won back-to-back weeks at the Wyndham Championship and the St. Jude FedEx Championship.
“It was extremely rewarding to return to the winner’s circle again in 2023. It took a lot of hard work to hold another trophy and I’m proud that my game is now on a level where I have the opportunity to tee it up on TGL. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going into 2024 and do my team proud,” said Glover.
Min Woo Lee: The Australian 25-year-old is one of the young international stars on the PGA TOUR who won last week’s Macau Open on the Asian Tour with a wire-to-wire victory for his third international win along with the 2021 Scottish Open and the 2020 ISPS Handa Vic Open. Lee is part of a team that holds a Guinness World Record for the ‘Fastest hole of golf by a team of four’ achieved at Real Club Valderrama in 2021. The hole was a 501-yard par four, and they holed out the putt in 24.75 seconds to set the new record.
“It is truly an honor to be included as part of TGL with many players who I have watched and looked up to in golf. TGL will be a cool way for my generation to be introduced to golf and hopefully become bigger fans of our sport,” said Lee.
Kevin Kisner: Kevin Kisner, affectionately known as Kiz, grew up in South Carolina, and was the number one golfer in the state when he signed on to play golf as a Bulldog at the University of Georgia. Earning his PGA Tour card in 2011, he has won four events on tour including the RSM Classic, the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational, World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, and the Wyndham Championship. In 2016, Kisner and his wife, Brittany, formed the Kisner Foundation to assist organizations in the Aiken, South Carolina-area that promote children’s fitness, health, education and opportunities to participate in sports. They are committed to creating a positive environment for children to grow into responsible adults.
“I can promise that I’m going to have a lot of fun at TGL events and hope to bring a little trash talk and personality to each match. I love the idea of trying new things in golf and TGL should be a way we can introduce fans of other sports to golf and maybe even create a few new fans along the way,” said Kisner.
TGL presented by SoFi is a new golf league that fuses advanced tech and live action with six teams of PGA TOUR stars across a season of matches in prime time starting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, on ESPN and ESPN+. SoFi Center is TGL’s purpose-built arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on the campus of Palm Beach State College. Technology is a foundational element of TGL, offering fans a progressive, shorter format presentation of team golf, featuring some of the PGA TOUR’s biggest superstars. The 24 committed to playing in TGL have been announced, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Matt Fitzpatrick, Lucas Glover, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Cam Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, Billy Horschel and Kevin Kisner. With currently 7 of the top 10 players in the world, TGL players have 32 major championships victories, 223 PGA TOUR wins, an additional 119 International Victories and collectively have ranked as the World No. 1 for 886 weeks.
- TGL Teams: The six TGL teams will each have four players assigned. A TGL match will feature three players competing for each team in a modern match-play format.
- Custom-Built Venue: SoFi Center is a first-of-its-kind experience for golf enabled by a data-rich, virtual course paired with a tech-infused, short-game complex.
- Tech-Enabled Fan Experience: High-energy, greenside fan experience with every shot live within a two-hour televised match. All TGL players will be mic’d up.
- Inaugural Season: 15 regular season matches followed by semifinals and finals matches, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+ in the U.S.
Team names, brands, front office staff and assigned players will be unveiled later this year, as will the inaugural schedule and other operational and fan-centric elements of TGL presented by SoFi. Currently four of six team ownership groups have been announced:
- Atlanta Drive GC: led by Arthur M. Blank, AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstores)
- TGL Boston: led by John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, RFK Racing)
- Los Angeles Golf Club: led by Alexis Ohanian (Angel City FC), Seven Seven Six, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams; as well as limited partners the Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, and Michelle Wie West
- TGL New York: led by Steven A. Cohen (New York Mets), Cohen Private Ventures
