Rory Mcllroy Issues Statement on LIV Golfers Inclusion in Tiger Woods’s $500M Project by 2026

In 2022, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley joined hands to bring something unique to golf: an indoor golf league. And they did that by bringing the TMRW Golf League, or the TGL, to the scene.

Early this year, they held the inaugural events at the SoFi Center, just a few months after a $500 million investment by Dynasty Equity and Connect Ventures. Initially designed for Tour pros, Rory McIlroy now believes TGL can bridge the gap between LIV Golf and PGA Tour pros, bringing them together more often.

During a recent interview on How Leadership Lead with David Novak, McIlroy’s answer to the question, “Hypothetically, what would it [merger] look like?” was, “I’d say the core golf season wouldn’t look much different. So, you’ve got the four major championships and the bigger individual tournaments. Um, but I think there is a way.” LIV Golf players are still ineligible from competing on the PGA Tour as negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which funds LIV, rumble on. The only chance for them to compete alongside PGA Tour players comes during the four men’s majors.

However, the TGL could serve as a solution. Just like LIV Golf, TGL also shares a unique team format, with six teams playing 15 holes of golf each match. And, if you ask Rory McIlroy, he would likely say the similarities in the format serves a great opportunity, “I think if there’s a way to, we have TGL, which is, you know, purely PGA Tour players, but if there’s a way to expand team golf and try to make it like this bigger entity, so that you maybe have, you know, TGL can have some um, some of the LIV guys come over and play with their teams.” 

In 2026, the Tiger Woods-Rory McIlroy-owned league is scheduled for a second season between March 12-16. Given the upcoming schedule, McIlroy also suggested, “Then maybe LIV more on the back end of the year, like post the summer, sort of going into the all, you know, maybe have some of the TGL teams start to play in some of the, you know, LIV type uh tournaments. It’s a bridge.” Indeed, TGL can be counted as a “bridge.” And that’s something that even Bryson DeChambeau can back Rory McIlroy on.

At the 2025 International Series event in India, DeChambeau agreed that “I’m all about anything to grow the game, so if it’s helping grow the game, fantastic,” and “Would it [playing at TGL] be fun? Yeah, it could be fun. I don’t know if they’d pick me though, I have no idea. I’ve got a [LIV] team over here, the Crushers GC, come on. The Crushers would be a part of that!”

So, even if Rory McIlroy says that he doesn’t know “if that’s like the, if it’s like that would be the permanent solution, but it at least is something where, because it seems like the team element is something that is very important for the LIV people,” he does believe “that’s sort of like a win for them [LIV Golf].” Indeed, that is something that another LIV Golf pro can back Rory McIlroy on.

Brooks Koepka says TGL is very similar to LIV Golf

Brooks Koepka’s surprise visit to the SoFi Center to watch the TGL matches in February sparked curiosity among golf fans. Despite being a LIV Golf player and not being allowed to participate in the PGA Tour-partnered TGL, Koepka was seen mingling with PGA Tour stars and enjoying the tech-infused league. Following his surprising presence at the TGL, he sat down with The Joe Pomp Show and shared his thoughts on the TGL.

Sharing his thoughts on LIV Golf, Brooks Koepka said, “Look, it’s just golf at the end of the day and you’ve gotta make it more fun and entertaining and the attention span the younger generation has isn’t as long as everybody sitting on the couch watching golf for 5 or 6 hours. You’ve got to innovate and be creative and that’s what we [LIV Golf] are trying to do, TGL is trying to do the same thing.”

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