Even before it began, TGL had already raised numerous questions about its probable success in golf and on the viewership front. Insiders, fans, pros, and even those who are involved in the first season of the project are unsure of what TGL will amount to.

More recently, James Colgan of Golf.com pointed out how some players like Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, and Billy Horschel might determine the success of the project based on its viewership. The expert writer said, “Every single player involved is judging the league’s success based on its TV ratings. I think is a very bad idea.” He further added, “There is too much focus on if people will like it and not enough focus on how they can be acting and performing and being a part of this league to make people want to like it and want to care about it.”

Colgan’s concerns may be valid considering how Rickie Fowler recently talked about TGL. In a pre-tournament press conference for the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational, a journalist asked Fowler, “What are kind of your expectations? Do you have any idea what this whole thing is going to be like?”

This received a surprising response from the 6X PGA Tour winner as he said, “I’m looking forward to it. In a way we don’t fully know what to expect until it really gets going.” Fowler further elaborated, “It’s brand new, something that’s never been done and it’s going to be a lot on the players and how we’re able to help kind of provide some entertainment because at the end of the day, it’s all about having a good time in there and like I said, creating some entertaining.”

Speaking about the players’ mentality going into TGL, he further added, “Doesn’t have to be good golf. We hope it is, but we’re not on a real golf course. It’s as close to making it of playing golf, but indoors.” Fowler also stated “The atmosphere that will be in there with I think there’s about 1500 people, super intimate and very close. Hopefully no one gets hit from a bunker shot because they’re close enough,” as he showed concerns about the entire setup.

While it’s understandable that TGL is a very unique event, uncertainty about how it will play out raises further concerns about the event. Not having the confidence of the pros may ring some alarm bells for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Coming back to the press conference, Fowler was also asked about how hectic the schedule would be with TGL and the PGA Tour being played in tandem. So let’s take a look at the schedule of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s project to get a better understanding of it.

Will the TGL schedule be challenging for Rickie Fowler & co.?

The tournament will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays every week. The Sentry will conclude two days before the first match of TGL. Two days after the match, the Sony Open in Hawaii is scheduled to begin. So if a pro is scheduled to play in both tournaments, they will have 2 days of rest from January 2-12, 2025. Add traveling from Maui to Florida to Hawaii to it and it’s a completely packed schedule for any player. This will be the case for all tournaments and TGL matches will end on March 9, 2025, concluding alongside the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

If that wasn’t enough then on February 17, 2024, the Atlanta Drive Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club are scheduled to play two matches each. The amount of stress players from both teams might experience is unimaginable. Moreover, this will be one day after The Genesis Invitational 2024 will conclude. Many pros would not want to miss the signature PGA Tour event. Hence, the players from Atlanta Drive and The Bay might need to labor through both events before they could finally grab some rest. The way this is set up, TGL players might soon start regretting their decision to join the league. but only time can tell if the struggle of packed schedules might actually prove to be instead fulfilling for the pros.

TGL begins on January 7, 2025, with the first match between New York Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club. You can watch all the action live on ESPN and ESPN+.