Tom Kim to play alongside Tiger Woods in TGL’s inaugural season

Golf

Published: 23 Apr. 2024, 13:33 Updated: 23 Apr. 2024, 16:59

Tom Kim to play alongside Tiger Woods in TGL’s inaugural season

Korea's Tom Kim hits a tee shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 19 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. [GETTY IMAGES]

Korea’s Tom Kim will play alongside Tiger Woods in the first season of the TGL for the four-man Jupiter Links Golf Club, the club and the PGA announced in a press release Monday.

Joining them on the roster are Max Homa, a six-time PGA champion, and Kevin Kisner, with four PGA wins.

Kim, 21, was previously confirmed to be on the roster for the TGL, a team golf league backed by Woods and Rory McIlroy set to launch in January 2025, but was not yet committed to a team.

“I am so excited about playing in the TGL format with this group of guys. Obviously, I grew up inspired by Tiger Woods, but Max and Kevin are two of my favorite guys out on Tour. Both are genuinely good guys, but both also have a similar competitive fire.” Kim said in the press release Monday. “It will be incredible to join these guys as teammates. To talk strategy with Tiger in a true competition is something I never dreamed could happen.”

Kim, with three career wins on the PGA Tour, is the youngest player on the team. He won his first two, the Wyndham Championship in 2022 and the first Shriners Children’s Open of 2023, before turning 21 years old, becoming the youngest player to achieve that feat since Woods, who did it five years before Kim was born.

“Tom is so good and a very underrated player in my opinion. He stepped up for the International Team at the Presidents Cup [in 2022] when they needed it, which as a rookie, is no easy task. I’m excited to have him on the team,” Woods said in the press release.

The TGL is set to pit six teams of players on the PGA Tour against one another at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida in a faster-paced, teched-out version of the sport. The golf league will run in a format similar to professional team sports, earning points for wins and a chance to move up on a six-team table.

Each team, representing clubs based in Jupiter, Atlanta, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, will play five matches for a spot in the playoffs. Each player will be hooked up to a mic.

The first three matches of the TGL have been scheduled to premiere on consecutive Tuesdays in January and will also be broadcast on ESPN.

The first match is scheduled for January 7, 2025.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]