What's new heading into second season of TGL - ESPN

The second TGL season tees off Sunday with a rematch of last year's SoFi Cup finals, in which Atlanta Drive GC defeated New York Golf Club in a pair of one-point matches on the final hole to capture the inaugural title in the tech-infused indoor golf league.

The six team rosters remain unchanged from the inaugural season, although 15-time major champion Tiger Woods and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas won't compete, at least at the start of the TGL season, while they continue to recover from back surgeries.

Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, is expected to attend Jupiter Links GC matches and wear a microphone as he cuts up with teammates and competitors. All of the matches will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and/or ESPN+.

Last season, Jupiter Links GC and Rory McIlroy's Boston Common Golf were the only teams not to make the playoffs. In fact, those teams combined to win only one of 10 matches.

«I think all of us are ready to not suck anymore,» said Tom Kim, a member of Jupiter Links GC. «We're ready to win, especially for a guy who's not used to losing as much. And he's on our butts to get into the playoffs.»

So what is new in the six-team league that will play five matches each in a regular season that starts Sunday and ends March 3?

There's a bigger and badder GreenZone putting surface, which is 38% larger than last season, according to TGL. It increased from 3,800 square feet to 5,270 and now has 12 hole locations (there were seven previously).

TGL said 608 actuators will be used to morph the putting surface and two larger full swing virtual greens under the turf are now 1,250 square feet, which is 60 square feet larger than last season.

«Obviously, the green is almost double the size,» said 2023 U.S.