Tiger Woods and Serena Williams are officially business partners, with Rory McIlroy and Venus Williams also involved.
A group composed of the Williams sisters and Serena’s husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanion, have purchased the first team of TGL, an upcoming indoor golf league backed by Woods and McIlroy, it was announced Thursday.
The new team will be called Los Angeles Golf Club.
Ohanian and Serena’s 5-year-old daughter Olympia and any future children will also hold equity in the club through a trust.
Ohanian will be the controlling owner, as each TGL team is required to have an owner who holds at least 33.3% of team equity and at least 51% of voting shares, per Sportico. The club itself will also hold a 3% stake in the league.
From Sportico:
“I like betting big—and betting early—on things in sports,” Ohanian, who is the controlling owner of NWSL club Angel City FC, said in an interview. “What’s so attractive about this is that you’ve already got a globally recognized, incredibly popular sport, with the best players in the world committed. … And now they’ve engineered a format that finally makes sense for a casual fan who just wants to get excited and fired up.”
Ohanian and Serena already have one investment in Los Angeles sports with the NWSL’s Angel City. Serena and Venus are also both minority owners of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, in addition to a considerable number of other business ventures.
What is TGL?
TGL is a tech-infused brand of team golf partnered with the PGA Tour, which Woods and McIlroy did not coincidentally champion against LIV Golf until the two sides merged earlier this week. TMRW Sports, which was co-founded by Woods, McIlroy and media executive Mike McCarley, is the majority owner, while the PGA Tour owns a minority stake.
The league is set to begin operations in 2024 with teams of three PGA golfers each. Per the league’s website, the list of committed golfers already includes Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas.
What will it all look like? Well, imagine a neon-colored “Mario Golf” played on a virtual course in a large stadium with primetime Monday night golf.