TGL Season 2 primer: Schedule, what’s new, what to watch for

Atlanta Drive GC swept New York Golf Club 2-0 in the finals of the inaugural season of TGL. Season 2 begins Sunday afternoon with a rematch between Atlanta and New York.

Six teams of four PGA Tour stars apiece are back in the saddle for the second season of the indoor golf league co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. TGL has made some upgrades between its first and second campaigns, but the teams and rosters will be familiar to anyone who watched in 2025.

Before Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay and company lead the Drive against New York stars Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler, here's a rundown of what to know for Season 2.

The format

TGL will employ the same format it did for Season 1. Only three team members play in each 15-hole match.

Matches are split into "triples" for the first through ninth holes, with all three players on a given team alternating shots. Nos. 10-15 move to singles. One player from each side goes head-to-head at Nos. 10 and 13, another matchup takes on Nos. 11 and 14 and the final pairing faces off at Nos. 12 and 15.

Teams earn one point for finishing a hole in the lowest number of strokes. Points are neither split nor carried over if teams tie at a given hole. Teams can "throw a hammer" during a hole to add a point to its value; if the opposing team declines the hammer, it forfeits the hole.

What's new

The SoFi Center -- the indoor golf venue built in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to host the league -- will have a larger GreenZone putting complex, now sitting at 5,270 square feet and with 12 hole locations instead of seven.

Several new holes were added into the rotation, and some of the most celebrated golf course architects in the world were tasked with designing "signature holes" for every team. Anytime that team is playing a match, its signature hole will be in the rotation.

Each of these holes is a par-5 measuring longer than 600 yards. Examples include "Bay Breaker" for The Bay Golf Club, which took inspiration from Northern California's Pebble Beach and TPC Harding Park, and "The Jup Life," a nod to Jupiter Links GC reminiscent of Floridian golf courses.

Where's Tiger?

Woods turns 50 on Tuesday. He's two months removed from a disc replacement surgery, his seventh back surgery in an 11-year span, and he had Achilles surgery back in March.

At least to start the TGL season, the 15-time major champ won't be playing for Jupiter Links. He is expected to attend Jupiter's matches and wear a microphone for the broadcasts. Woods told reporters in early December that he is chipping and putting and he couldn't put a timeline on a return to competitive play.

Woods isn't the only player sidelined. Atlanta Drive star Justin Thomas had microdiscectomy surgery in November and will miss the start of the 2026 season. That leaves open the possibility for players to sign one-match contracts to help Jupiter or Atlanta as needed.

The teams

Atlanta Drive GC: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Lucas Glover

Boston Common Golf: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott

Jupiter Links GC: Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner

Los Angeles Golf Club: Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala

New York Golf Club: Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young

The Bay Golf Club: Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee

The schedule

After New York and Atlanta square off on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, and Boston battles Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. ET, matches will mostly take place on Mondays or Tuesdays during the first three months of 2026.

All five teams face one another once for a total of 15 regular-season matches. There will be a pair of doubleheaders on Monday, Feb. 23 and Tuesday, Feb. 24; Atlanta will play in both matches Monday and New York will feature in both matches Tuesday.

After the regular-season finale March 3, the top four teams in the standings will advance to a pair of semifinal matches on March 17. The winners of those matches reach the SoFi Cup finals, a best-of-three series on Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24.

Woods' Jupiter Links and McIlroy's Boston Common Golf were the only teams to miss the playoffs in the inaugural season.

--Field Level Media