Why WTGL and Saso's participation could be the right move for women's golf
Timing and intention matter in sport, and it is especially so for women’s golf with recent data suggesting the game is on the precipice of greater things.
Hence, the impending arrival of the inaugural WTGL this November could hardly be better timed.
The new women’s team golf league, created by the TMRW Sports — the company co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy — is preparing for its debut season at the custom-built SoFi Center in Florida, arriving at a moment when women’s golf is experiencing perhaps its most important period of growth.
Women are playing more golf. Younger women are entering the sport. Women's sport is attracting bigger audiences and greater commercial interests, and more importantly, Asia-Pacific is the epicenter of a new generation of female golfers who are becoming global stars.
The WTGL will sit in the middle of it all as it seeks to accelerate new growth through an innovative platform that has already become a big hit following the success of TGL, the men’s version of the indoor team golf competition, which showcases a faster, tech-driven entertainment product to attract new audiences while showcasing athletes’ talents and personalities.
Many see the WTGL as a golden opportunity to build on the positive momentum of women’s golf. Critically, it is additive to the ecosystem and not positioned as a disruptor, as was the case with LIV Golf, which filed for bankruptcy protection in the US last week after four years in existence and some $5 billion spent as it seeks to reinvent itself and survive in the men’s game.
The WTGL will bring together 25 golfers across five teams, including major champions, Olympians, LPGA legends and many of the most recognizable young Asia-Pacific players. Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Ruoning Yin of China, Korea’s Ina Yoon, Japan’s Chizzie and Aki Iwai, Filipino-Japanese Yuka Saso, Australia’s Minjee Lee and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko are among the stars giving the league immediate credibility.
Saso, a two-time US Women’s Open champion, is excited ahead of her participation. “Rory McIlroy has been one of my favorite players for a long time, so I followed what he helped create with TGL. I am excited that WTGL will now give LPGA players the opportunity to compete in that environment and bring our own personalities and style to the format,” said the Filipino-Japanese golfer.
Jeeno, a 10-time LPGA Tour winner and current World No. 2, echoed similar sentiments as Saso in hope that new Asian female golfers will get hooked to the sport through WTGL. “The team format, fast pace and technology can introduce golf to a new generation of fans,” said the 23-year-old.
The latest National Golf Foundation data shows women and girls have become a driving force behind golf’s participation growth in the US, accounting for 52% of the net gains in green-grass participation between 2020 and 2025. Female participation has reached record levels, while girls now account for more than one-third (35%) of junior golfers — another indication that the game’s future audience is becoming younger and more diverse.
Internationally, women now account for roughly one in three adult golf participants in the world’s biggest golf markets, with their share rising to 34% from 31% a year earlier, according to the latest R&A data. Perhaps even more revealing is that women now represent 53% of adults participating in alternative golf formats, up from 50% in the previous report — evidence that women are increasingly engaging with golf beyond the traditional 9-hole and 18-hole experience.
Simply put, WTGL will hit all these latest trends as it plays a key role in expanding the game globally.
Aside from a faster, team-based and technology-driven format, the WTGL will also deliver new rivalries and showcase personalities beyond the traditional individual leaderboard. And because the matches take place in the controlled environment of SoFi Center, the league can present golf more as a modern entertainment property to complement the traditional form on the LPGA Tour.
Korea’s Ina Yoon, 23, grew up playing indoor golf with her father as it is popular in her native country before breaking through onto the LPGA Tour.
“Screen golf is a big part of golf culture in Korea, and it is also where my own golf story began,” said Yoon. who posted top-five finishes at the Chevron Championship and Women’s PGA Championship this season.
“I first became interested in golf when I went to an indoor screen golf facility with my father. SoFi Center is unlike any other screen in the world. Competing in the inaugural season of WTGL now feels like a full-circle moment, and I am excited to share it with fans in Korea and around the world.”
The hope now is for other young girls who watch WTGL to pick up the sport and subsequently shine on the biggest stage.
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Note: The writer was formerly head of communications for the PGA Tour APAC and Asian Tour for over 25 years and now runs his own PR consultancy.
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