CNN
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After years of anticipation, the high-tech indoor golf league, led by two of the sport’s modern greats, is finally ready to tee off on Tuesday evening.

Led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, TGL will begin at their purpose-built Florida venue, the SoFi Center, and will be broadcast on ESPN, although it was originally scheduled to launch last year.

The virtual nature and 1,500-seat stadium aim to attract a younger audience. The company is the brainchild of TMRW Sports, a company co-founded by Woods and McIlroy.

In the opening game of the new league, the trio Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele from New York Golf Club will face Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg from Bay Golf Club.

Before Tuesday’s opening game, McIlroy described it as “golf, but it’s reimagined and trying to bring golf into the 21st century.”

“We have teams that obviously involve a lot of technology and are trying to bring it into the digital age,” he told ESPN. “A lot of things we adopted from other sports, like a shot clock, a timeout, things you don’t see in regular golf. (We’re) trying to appeal to the larger sports audience out there.”

McIlroy also added that he and Woods were extremely committed during the organizing phase of their new tournament.

“Tiger and I were there from day one and whenever you see the concepts and renderings you think, ‘Yeah, that looks really cool,'” McIlroy told ESPN. “But until you actually stand here (at the SoFi Center) and see what they’ve accomplished, I think the magnitude is what’s going to blow me away.

“Every time I come in here I’m just blown away by the size of the screen and the fact that we can put something that looks like golf on a stage like this. It’s really cool and of course we’re really happy about it in the game of golf. I think a lot of other people outside of the game will see this and hopefully be excited by it too.”

On Tuesday night, six teams made up of 24 microphone-wearing PGA Tour stars will compete in a 15-game regular season at the 1,500-seat Arena in Palm Beach Gardens before the postseason begins, culminating in a best-of- Three final series showdowns for the SoFi Cup on March 24th.

Golfers on each four-player team hit tee shots and approach shots in a 64-by-53-foot simulator before heading to the GreenZone. A green that can be individually rotated and tilted on each hole thanks to a turntable and actuators beneath its surface.

“The playing surfaces are very realistic,” explained McIlroy. “Whenever you hit out of the rough, you have to think about whether you’re going to get a flyer (or) whether it’s going to come out soft. A lot of things you would have to think about on a real golf course.”

A single game is played over two sessions, with each game pitting three players from each team against each other over 15 specially designed holes and two different formats – nine holes of triples and six holes of singles.

In triples, the three players on a team take turns throwing shots and teeing off. The singles format pits players directly against an opponent, with each player on the team of three playing two individual holes.

Each hole is worth one point, a tied hole is worth no points, and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins. If the scores are equal after 15 holes, the contest closest to the pin will decide the winner.

An additional element of intrigue is the “hammer,” which allows teams to double the value of a hole. If accepted by the opponent, a hole is worth two points. The opposing team could choose to play the “hammer” on the same hole, which would give them three points, but could also use it later in the game.

If a team refuses to use their opponent’s “hammer”, they concede the hole and the points offered.

The makeup of the teams’ various ownership groups creates a who’s who of sporting heavyweights, including tennis sisters Serena and Venus Williams, NBA stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry, and Liverpool soccer club owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG). Supporter.

There are many big winners among the players involved in the TGL, including Woods and McIlroy.

Atlanta Drive GC

Justin Thomas (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Lucas Glover (USA)

Boston Common Golf

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Keegan Bradley (USA), Adam Scott (Australia)

Jupiter Links Golf Club

Tiger Woods (USA), Max Homa (USA), Tom Kim (South Korea), Kevin Kisner (USA)

Los Angeles Golf Club

Collin Morikawa (USA), Sahith Theegala (USA), Justin Rose (England), Tommy Fleetwood (England)

New York Golf Club

Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Rickie Fowler (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), Cameron Young (USA)

The Bay Golf Club

Ludvig Åberg (Sweden), Wyndham Clark (USA), Min Woo Lee (Australia), Shane Lowry (Ireland)

Regular season

January 7th: New York GC vs. The Bay GC

January 14th: Los Angeles GC vs. Jupiter Links GC

January 21: New York GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC

January 27: Jupiter Links GC vs. Boston Common GC

February 4: Boston Common GC vs. Los Angeles GC

February 17: Atlanta Drive GC vs. Los Angeles GC, Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay GC, The Bay GC vs. Boston Common GC

February 18: Jupiter Links GC vs. New York GC

February 24: Los Angeles GC vs. New York GC, Boston Common GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC

February 25: The Bay GC vs. Jupiter Links GC

March 3: The Bay GC vs. Los Angeles GC, New York GC vs.
Boston Common GC

March 4: Jupiter Links GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC

Late season

Semifinals: March 17, March 18

Finals series: March 24th, March 25th