Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have recruited yet another PGA Tour star to join their highly anticipated Monday night golf league.
Adam Scott is officially set to join TGL, the tech-infused, team-format series—which will launch in the winter of 2024—started by TMRW Sports. Woods and McIlroy founded TMRW Sports along with Mike McCarley, a former NBC Sports executive.
Scott and TGL confirmed to Sports Illustrated that the former Masters champion will become the fifth player to sign on to the cutting-edge series—he joins Woods, McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Jon Rahm.
Both the TMRW Sports investors and the existing TGL members were pivotal in Scott’s decision to buy into the league. But it was Woods in particular who brought him over the edge. Scott has had a front-row seat for the majority of Woods’s accomplishments, and that perspective helped him look at the 15-time major champion’s recent actions in a new light.
Whether it be his strong public stance in the wake of the PGA Tour’s battle with LIV Golf or his creation of an innovative new series, Scott feels that Woods is contributing to the sport in a highly impactful way—one that differs from the influence he had on the game at the beginning of his career.
“Tiger pushed golf to a standard that was never seen before, and guys are continuing to push forward. Now, in the position that he’s in, for him to stand up and take a voice for the PGA Tour, I think that’s really strong,” Scott says.
“We never saw much ‘side-taking’ from Tiger during his career. That’s fair enough, he was a competitor and he was interested in what he was doing. Now, he’s showing his feelings on things. Creating something like TGL with Rory is just another example of how he is having an impact on the game. Certainly when Tiger goes in on something, it’s going to have an impact no matter what.”
Adam Scott and Tiger Woods shake hands after the first round of the 2013 US Open at Merion Golf Club.
Eileen Blass/USA TODAY
Scott’s decision to join TGL was highly motivated by his desire to enhance the future of the game, on both a recreational and professional level. That aspiration was also highlighted in his recent choice to join 15 other golfers on the PGA Tour’s 2023 Player Advisory Committee (PAC).
Scott, 42, wants to take a leadership role as the sport navigates a transformative moment, just as Woods and McIlroy have done.
Being both a member of the PAC and TGL will help him do just that.
“Although they’re very separate things, if you’re going to try to have a voice that has any influence at all, amongst the members of the PAC or even the Tour members as a whole, I think you have to lead by example ,” Scott says. “To be on the PAC and sit there and talk a big game is one thing, but maybe some of these other things I’m doing will help me be a voice of reason on these committees going forward.”
According to Scott, TGL will not only change how fans consume the sport, but it will also impact the way they choose to play it. Scott may not be a technology guru himself, but he appreciates the direction in which golf is moving.
“I’ve seen an uptick in simulator golf when I travel outside of the United States, especially through Asia,” says Scott. “There are tournaments with thousands of entrants playing against each other. It’s simple, not everyone can access a golf course. Looking at the younger generation—they are so many people into gaming. It’s kind of like a hybrid of gaming, but you’re not playing strictly on a console. Seeing how quickly it’s been picked up overseas, TGL will really compliment everything I’m seeing and it will have a huge impact certainly with the names that are behind it.”
Scott has won 31 professional tournaments worldwide, including 14 PGA Tour events, one of which was the 2004 Players Championship. The Australian has represented Team International in 10 Presidents Cups and has a strong affinity for team golf, which will be a central component of TGL.
“I think this is a really great opportunity for me at this point in my career,” Scott says. “I really like the fact that it’s drawing the biggest names so far, and that I was able to wrangle my way in with these superstar players.”
A custom-built golf entertainment venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College will host the league’s 15 regular season matches. The facility will house both virtual golf and a high-tech short-game complex with greenside fan interaction.
Six teams of three PGA Tour players will make up the league. Each week, two of those teams will face off in 18 holes of match play, aired within a 2-hour primetime TV broadcast window. According to TGL, a dozen PGA Tour players have already signed on for next year.
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