Golf is one of the most popular sports that has a huge audience around the world. Yet, experts agree that golf has not yet reached its maximum potential, and the number of active fans and spectators could be much greater.
Apparently, this fact became one of the key reasons for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to set up their own competition, the interactive TGL league. The main goal of the league is to give the audience a new broadcast format that will be more dynamic and full of interesting events. It will be a unique mix of a traditional and historically established sport with the modern approaches and ideas.
The official launch of the project is scheduled for January next year. We will tell you what is already known about the competition.
In which format would TGL be held?
TGL will be a team tournament. 24 athletes who will form six teams of four participants each will take part in it. By now, the names of all the players are already known, but their final distribution by teams is not yet available. It is worth noting that 12 current representatives of the top twenty of the world ranking have confirmed their participation in the interactive league.
The teams will based upon the geographical region, but it will be rather symbolic. All tournament matches will be hosted in a special up-to-date arena in Florida. It is designed for 1,600 spectators and is equipped with the most modern technologies. For instance, there will be a huge screen for an interactive game, as well as separate game areas. The complex will have a unique design and structure.
One match will be played each week. Each team itself will choose three players who will participate in a certain meeting. Thus, the risk of problems arising due to injuries or other issues with individual performers is minimized.
Each game will consist of 15 holes. The first nine will be held in the “Triple competition” format. This means that all players registered for the match will take turns to make shots. The remaining six holes will be individual – two for each athlete. The format of the competition (who is against whom) will be determined immediately before the start of the game.
Thus, 15 points will be played in each match. It is important that all holes must be played, even when the player has an advantage which indicates ahead of time who the winner will be. If the opposing teams score an equal number of points (which seems a very real scenario), an additional shooting competition will be held. All golfers registered for the game take part in it. Again, there will be three pairs in the competition to see who is closer. It is quite likely that all status bookmakers, including Pin-up az, will accept bets on the matches of these competitions.
Two points in the overall standings will be awarded to the team for victory in a match, and 0 points will be given for the loss during the main time of the game. If the team loses after overtime, it will receive 1 point. There will also be a separate column with an indicator of the total points scored. According to the regulations, each team must play each opponent once (5 matches).
According to the results of the regular season, 4 teams out of 6 will enter the relegation matches, where the champion will be determined.
How will the competition be organized technically?
Each match will start with a kick from one of two possible zones – 35 or 20 yards to the screen. The ball must be in the air for at least 0.5 seconds in order for the data to be clearly captured and recorded. The next blow will also be directed at the screen, but from potentially different areas (grass, gravel, sand). The specific option will depend on the accuracy of the initial shot.
When the score is less than 50 yards away, the game will continue on the physical field. Another point is the ability to change the angle of inclination of the complex.
The most titled players are already excitedly discussing the upcoming interactive league. It seems that the organizers managed to find an ideal balance between long-standing traditions and modern technologies.
A bit of unique rules
In order to add some dynamics, the organizers decided to introduce a time limit for the kick. The player will have exactly 40 seconds. For each violation of the time limit, the team will be charged 1 free kick. A special referee will monitor the time.
Also, each team will receive 4 time-outs for the match – two for each game session. When the time-out is activated, the time for the shot is stopped. The exact duration of such a break has not yet been announced.
It is worth noting that Woods and McIlroy did an extremely great job even before the start of the league. They managed not only to select an excellent team of participants from the best representatives of this sport, but also to find individual sponsors for each of the teams. Participation will be not only prestigious, but also financially beneficial.
In general, the financial side of the league remains the least transparent point. Even the total prize money for a successful performance has not yet been announced. Probably, this information should be waited for after the announcement of the final squads of each of the participating teams.
The first match within TGL will be held on January 9, 2024. A detailed calendar will be published later.