Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods’ indoor simulator league, TGL, recently announced it would introduce a women’s league, WTGL.
Some of the biggest names in women’s golf, like Charley Hull, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, and Michelle Wie West, will be playing in the new league, which will mirror the men’s equivalent.
But there has been increasing momentum for men to play alongside women more often, following the successes of the Grant Thornton invitational, an event which paired PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars.
TGL presents a priceless opportunity to do just that. The league has failed to capture the imagination of mainstream golf fans in its second season, so this could be exactly what it needs to secure its place in the sport.
The ever-controversial US Open winner Wyndham Clark weighed in on this, and said that he’d be open to playing alongside LPGA players on TGL.
Wyndham Clark says it would be ‘fun’ to play alongside women’s players on TGL
Clark played alongside Thompson at the Grant Thornton Invitational and enjoyed the experience. So speaking after a TGL match, he said he’d like to compete with LPGA players more often.
When asked if he’d like to play alongside women’s players, Clark said, “Yeah, I don’t see why not. The Grant Thornton was a blast. I got to play with Lexi. It’s really fun seeing their game, how good they are in certain parts of their game, that maybe they excel more than guys, and vice versa.
“Yeah, it’s fun to compete with someone else that you’re not used to competing with. At TGL, I think that would be a blast. I think it would be good for the fans. So who knows. I know right now it’s just girls versus girls, but yeah, that would be kind of fun. Maybe there’s a Bay women’s team, and we do some cool stuff. I think that would be great.”
It’s a great opportunity to bridge the gap between the PGA Tour and the increasingly popular LPGA Tour in an interesting format!
Nelly Korda says TGL missed big opportunity with women’s league
For now, TGL has no plans to combine its men’s and women’s leagues, which two-time major winner Nelly Korda has mixed feelings about.
When the news was announced, she lamented a missed opportunity for golf: “I have mixed feelings on it if I’m being very honest, and I’m surprised no other girls have, or no one’s really spoken out about it. I think it’s a huge and unbelievable miss that we’re not playing alongside the men.
“There’s no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women are on the same playing field, playing for the same exact amount of money. But I also think it’s great that we are getting this opportunity, so that’s my mixed feelings.”
While this isn’t on the cards for now, it’s hard to imagine that TGL doesn’t combine the men’s and women’s leagues in the near future after these comments from Korda and Clark.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
