TGL is preparing for its most anticipated match and hoping the league’s founders — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy — can add to its strong start.
The indoor, high-tech golf league features Woods’ Jupiter Links GC and McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf Monday, the only time this season the two men who are the face of TGL meet. The match, at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, starts at 6:30 p.m., and will be televised by ESPN.
The league has had strong ratings its first three weeks, averaging 869,000 viewers. Its highest ratings were Week 2 when just more than 1 million tuned in to see Woods’ debut, which ended with Jupiter being routed by Los Angeles, 12-1.
Now with McIlroy’s team set to play for the first time and he and Woods going head-to-head in singles, TGL could be looking at his best night of the young season.
More: Where is TGL golf located? What to know about SoFi Center, Tiger Woods’ golf league arena
Jupiter’s lineup includes Woods, Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim. Max Homa is sitting out.
Boston Common will send out McIlroy, 2025 Ryder Cup captain and Jupiter resident Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott. Hideki Matsuyama is inactive.
Boston Common, Rory McIlroy heavy favorite over Jupiter, Tiger Woods
Boston Common is a heavy favorite at close to -250. All three of its golfers are in the top 25 in the world rankings. McIlroy is No. 3, Bradley No. 13 and Scott No. 21.
The two local legends — Woods lives on Jupiter Island, McIlroy has a residence in Jupiter — were at TGL’s Jan. 7 unveiling, a 9-2 victory by The Bay over New York. That inaugural match drew 919,000 viewers. After Woods debut, Week 3, which was another one-sided match with Atlanta blanking New York, 4-0, averaged 682,000 viewers.
The average after three weeks marks a 50 percent increase for ESPN compared to the same time slots in 2024. Additionally, TGL is appealing to a younger audience with an average age of 51-years-old compared to the NHL (52), Premier League (53), F1 (53), NFL (54), NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball (57) and MLB (60).
The NBA’s audience is younger with an average age of 50.
Through three weeks, 43% of TGL’s audience are the 18-49 demographic, which tops all major sports leagues.
“If you’re a complete traditionalist of the game, it’s probably not for you, but that’s fine,” McIlroy said two weeks ago from Dubai where he was competing in the Desert Classic. “That’s not the audience that we’re going for.
“It’s to try to engage a younger demographic into the game. We’re certainly not trying to replace tournament golf. This is hopefully going to be complementary to what we do week-in, week-out, and if we can get some more younger people and people, that … sort of TikTok generation into the game of golf and condense it into a bite-size version that they can enjoy and relate to in another way, that’s really what we are trying to do here.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
Monday’s TGL matchJupiter Links GC vs. Boston CommonSoFi Center, Palm Beach Gardens6:30 p.m., ESPN
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tiger Woods’ team underdog to Rory McIlroy in first TGL meeting
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