Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have 24 PGA Tour members on board for TGL, their new indoor professional golf league, but they've also been in contact with the LPGA about a potential expansion, Front Office Sports reported on Thursday.
A spokesperson for TGL, which debuts January 7 at the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla, told Front Office Sports that discussions between the league and LPGA have already occurred, though any collaboration would only happen sometime after the league's inaugural season.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said on Wednesday at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., that the tour had been exploring ways to boost its marketing of LPGA players, including "exploring some synergies with TGL."
"We've been talking to them for a while," Marcoux Samaan said. "It will be great to get our athletes in different positions. You know, with different exposure, different innovation in golf. The LPGA should be in every conversation about golf. So we've been talking to those guys for a long time, and I think we'll try to figure something out – how we can work together, whatever that looks like."
Per the report, TGL may create a separate women's league down the line or have a mixed event involving players from both the PGA and LPGA.
TGL will combine simulator golf with an actual short game area via its hybrid virtual format, so instead of teeing off at different locations, TGL mixed events would allow all golfers to tee off from the same spot – improving the viewing experience for fans.
Mixed events have become more popular of late, including McIlroy defeating Max Homa and LPGA pros Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson in the made-for-TV golf series "The Match." That event, held in February, was the first version of the series to include female golfers. The $2.4 million won by McIlroy went to charity.
In December, Zhang and World No 1 Nelly Korda will be among the LPGA starts participating in the second year of the Grant Thornton Invitational, along with PGA Tour and TGL members Sahith Theegala and Rickie Fowler. The invitational is a co-sanctioned PGA Tour/LPGA Tour event established last year.
There may also be a 36-hole mixed-team golf tournament at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with a proposal awaiting response from the International Olympic Committee.
Also, Solheim Cup US team captain Stacy Lewis said in September that she would like to see the biennial Presidents Cup become a mixed event.