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It’s been a little over a week since TMRW Sports and the LPGA Tour have announced the formation of the WTGL, an indoor team golf platform featuring the most charismatic, entertaining and competitive players. The WTGL will begin in the winter of 2026-27, about two years after the launch of the PGA Tour’s TGL.
In this week or so of sitting on this development, I’ve had time to, first of all, get excited, but, second of all, start forming my ideal teams. Which cities are going to be represented? What will the teams be named? Who are the four players on each squad? So many creative decisions to be made; I only wish I was a part of it!
In all seriousness, there is so much potential for the WTGL. We’ve already seen how entertaining the TGL has been and how much it has drawn fans to the game. It’s given fans a glimpse into the personalities of the players, which changes how we all interact with the sport. We feel like we know these players even better.
The WTGL would benefit massively from this, especially because the LPGA Tour’s athletes have some of the biggest personalities in women’s sports. Golfers are stereotyped as quiet, reserved and keeping to themselves. These players are quite the opposite.
The Dow Championship, held each season on the LPGA Tour, is the only regularly scheduled event that has players team up and compete in a different format together. The Solheim Cup and the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown are different beasts; they’re held every other year and have international stakes tied to them. The Dow brings out a different kind of competitiveness: one that’s maybe not so serious.
The WTGL can do the same. Teams of four stars from the LPGA Tour are going to battle it out each week during the offseason, giving players a chance to hone their game during the winter months, keep their competitive edge and, the best benefit, have some fun. The mic’d up feature will be entertaining and, I’m sure, hilarious. Megan Khang on a mic for two hours? Yes please. If Chizzy Iwai is selected for a team, she’ll definitely be singing all the songs stuck in her head.
The stage is perfectly set for more moments like this with the WTGL. I can’t wait.
Some folks in the comments of various Instagram posts say they’re disappointed that the TGL didn’t just add one or two “females” to each already established team. Sure, these comments come from a good place, one that wants to see men and women play on the same stage at the same time. But why does the LPGA have to be an added afterthought, while the TGL stays the PGA Tour’s baby?
“I think at some point we’ll get to a place where we start to look at alternate versions and other opportunities, but I think first off, we’re focused on making sure that we can deliver WTGL with the best players in the world and with the LPGA as our partners in the winter of this year,” CEO and founder of TMRW Sports Mike McCarley said in the press conference for the announcement on Jan. 6.
If the goal is equity, McCarley and LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler are trying to create something that’s similar to, if not the same as, the TGL. The LPGA and PGA Tours aren’t combined, and neither are the WTGL and TGL. Crossover events? I’m here for them. That’s how you do engagement. Why add one LPGA Tour player to each TGL team when you can very feasibly set the LPGA Tour players on their own stage? Give those athletes their flowers.
The offseason is almost over! The wait might not feel as long next year when we have some WTGL matches to cover. See you next week, golf fans.
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Five at The IX: Mike McCarley and Craig Kessler comment on the partnership between TMRW Sports and the LPGA Tour to create the WTGL (Jan. 6, 2026 at SoFi Center)
REGINA O’BRIEN: Today we are joined by Mike McCarley, founder and CEO of TMRW Sports, and LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler. Before we get to questions, Mike and Craig, can you please provide some opening comments on today’s announcement?
MIKE McCARLEY: Yes. When we first envisioned TMRW Sports nearly five years ago, it was really about creating these modern media versions of traditional sports and doing it in a way where we could partner with existing governing bodies and partner with the top athletes from that sport, and I think nothing embodies that more than our relationship that we’ve had in forming TGL with the PGA TOUR, and now what we’re excited to announce today is forming the relationship with the LPGA and creating WTGL.
We always wanted these relationships to be complementary, not competitive. For golf, what does that really mean? A lot of you have seen this play out here at the SoFi Center with TGL over the last year or so. We want to make it simple for casual fans who may not be fans of the game of golf, but they’re sports fans, and it really ultimately helped the game of golf find new fans in a way that you may not find in the traditional game and attract them in a way that they may not be attracted to the traditional game.
We wanted to make it simple. Every shot can be seen live by fans who are sitting here in the arena, and every shot will be seen live by fans who are watching on television all around the world.
This environment is an important component to that. It really is very intentionally built to create a gladiators-in-the-coliseum type feel. The shot clock creates a bit of a pressure cooker, too, and with every eyeball on you because there’s one shot at a time, you can really feel that pressure, which that comes across to the fans who are here and the fans on the broadcast.
So in TGL and now in WTGL, it’s very simple. Like most other sports, two teams enter, and two hours later, one team leaves a winner. Again, it’s a modern media version of a centuries-old traditional game. In so many ways what we aim to do is keep one foot rooted in the traditions of the game but the other foot with our partner really trying to help move the game into the future, and that’s why with our partners at the LPGA, we’re so excited to have Craig here today to make this announcement.
Craig?
CRAIG KESSLER: First of all, thank you. Congratulations, Mike, to you and your entire team on everything you’ve built. I’ve been a fan of TGL since day one. Mike and I did a little bit of press earlier today, and I shared, my three boys and I and our neighbors, we had a watch party to watch season 1, episode 1, if you will, of TGL last year, and to now be a part of it is a total honor for us at the LPGA.
At the LPGA, we talk a lot about our four major pillars. It’s building trust, fans, visibility, and improving our financials, and I have to say, today’s announcement in so many ways is important to our strategy.
I think the platform WTGL will create for our athletes around the world is remarkable. I think that the chance for fans to get to know our athletes and their personalities, again, what a gift to be able to do that, both for our organization, for yours, and for fans across the globe.
Finally, trust is rooted in lots of things, but as you start to get to know people and their passions, their hopes, their dreams, their personalities, which in many ways TGL and WTGL will help to bring out, I think trust will be one of the many byproducts that come from this partnership.
On behalf of our entire team, thank you, and we’re excited.
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Q: I’m sure you guys have gotten this question before, but was there any thought on some sort of hybrid league or coed league, or was it just straight WTGL from the beginning?
MIKE McCARLEY: Yeah, that’s something we’ve thought about. It’s something we’ve talked to a lot of different constituent groups about, and I would say it’s something that’s interesting. I think we wanted to, first off, create a stage, a platform, a real showcase for the women’s game and for the top players to really showcase their personalities and provide an environment like this for them, but who knows what the future holds.
I think at some point we’ll get to a place where we start to look at alternate versions and other opportunities, but I think first off, we’re focused on making sure that we can deliver WTGL with the best players in the world and with the LPGA as our partners in the winter of this year.
Q: How similar of a match schedule length will it be to TGL, and will there also be cities attached to the team names, as well?
MIKE McCARLEY: Yeah, the shot clock doesn’t lie, so (audio interruption) that just this morning as the news started to get out, I’ve heard from most of our team owners who are existing teams in TGL.
We’ve got, I think, as you all know, six playing now and seventh with the Detroit team being added for next season, plus a lot of other folks from around the world who are interested in seeing what this looks like. So the idea of having city-based teams that reach built-in communities of fans who can become fans of the team and fans of the players who are playing on that team is still part of the general thesis of how we make this work.
You’ll see a product that is very similar to what TGL is, yes.
Q: How excited are you to showcase some of your stars and their personalities in a different format?
CRAIG KESSLER: I have goosebumps. I’m so pumped to be here. Liz Moore—for those of you who don’t know Liz, incredible person. She was our deputy commissioner, and none of this happens without Liz and all the hard work she put in to make this come to life.
As Liz and I landed and drove in today, there are a couple of moments in one’s career where you pinch yourself because you’re so excited about what’s to come. This is one of those moments.
I think the chance to showcase our athletes’ personalities — I’ll tell you, one of my favorite parts of my job is getting to know our athletes both inside and outside of the ropes. They’re incredible people, and TGL and WTGL will be a platform to help the rest of the world get to see some of the things I’ve gotten to see over the last six months.
Q: There’s been a ton of reaction on social media to TGL and just viral moments. Is there a moment or maybe a player you look at and you’re like, we’re going to have exactly that with WTGL?
CRAIG KESSLER: Well, I think that’s the point of the show. You’ve got to come out and watch to see it for yourself. I hope it’s more than one player. I think you’re going to see the fire in the ladies’ bellies show up. I think their competitive spirits will come out.
I think if anybody saw Lexi earlier today on SportsCenter talking about the trash talking that she sees when the men compete, she can’t wait for the women to bring that same level of intensity to their matches.
Without giving names, the answer is yes, you will see fire in their bellies.
I think fans will walk away with their favorites, and that’s exactly what we want from the WTGL competition.
MIKE McCARLEY: Yeah, I think you’ll see the stars coming in may not be the biggest stars coming out at the end of the first season because of the stage that this provides for people to kind of let the fans know about who they are and what their personalities are.
The great thing is those fans may be introduced to a player here, and then they can follow that player when they’re on an LPGA leaderboard on the weekend during the season, which that creates this cycle of creating new fans and finding new fans for the sport, which is ultimately what we’re aiming to do.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer |
