Newest team in Tiger Woods’ golf league is funded by basketball royalty

The mixed-reality golf league from TMRW Sports, a venture created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, continues to push forward with new team announcements and ownership. This week, we head out west as TGL San Francisco has been officially announced. 

The ownership? Not all that surprising. Stephen Curry is one of the main investors in the Bay Area’s TGL team, adding to his own portfolio of golf-related activity. Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, founded the company (Avenue Capital) that has recently launched a new venture called Avenue Sports Fund, which will be another key investor. But that’s not all the basketball royalty involved. Two of Curry’s longest-tenured teammates, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson, are also investors in the TGL San Francisco franchise. 

Golf has long been one of the biggest parts of Curry’s life, but has recently become a business opportunity. Curry’s production company was behind the ABC’s wacky mini-golf show Holey Moley. He has also launched UNDERRATED Golf, a tour of events and camps that focuses on creating greater opportunities in golf for Black and LatinX communities. It was just announced this week that Curry would receive the Charlie Sifford Award for advancing diversity in golf. 

As for his TGL ownership, TGL San Francisco joins four other previously announced franchises — Atlanta Drive, LA Golf Club, TGL Boston and TGL New York — which means there will be one more TGL franchise coming for its inaugural season. Each franchise has been announced with financial backing from various walks of the sports world. Tennis, baseball, football, soccer, etc. 

The entire roster of 24 players has been named, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and a long list of Ryder Cuppers. Notably absent from the list is Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler. The six teams of four will compete throughout the 2024 season, largely on Monday nights. Teams will have three players from their roster competing at the SoFi Center, the first-of-its-kind golf arena made in Palm Beach, Fla., on the campus of Palm Beach State College.

It remains unclear exactly what the league and arena will look like in reality, but renderings paint a picture unlike anything the sport has experienced, with a massive simulator and a short game space that can be manipulated to any desired specs. What we do know for sure is the league will kick off on Jan. 9, the day after the NCAA football national championship, and will be broadcast on ESPN. Week 2 of the TGL will also play out on the following Tuesday, one day after ESPN’s Monday Night Football playoff game.