Why the WTGL and Minjee Lee’s participation could be the right moment 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 arrival of the inaugural WTGL in 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 epicentre of a new generation of female golfers who are becoming global stars.
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 after the success of TGL – the men’s version of the indoor team golf competition that showcases a faster, tech-driven entertainment product to attract new audiences while showcasing athletes’ talents and personalities.
Many see 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 in September after four years in existence and $US5 billion spent as it seeks to reinvent itself and survive in the men’s game.
The WTGL will brings together 25 golfers across five teams, including major champions, Olympians, LPGA legends and many of the most recognisable young Asia-Pacific players. Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Ruoning Yin of China, Korea’s Ina Yoon, Japan’s Yuka Saso, Chizzie and Aki Iwai, Australia’s Minjee Lee and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko are among the stars giving the league immediate credibility.
Three-time major winner Lee said: “I watched my brother, Min Woo, compete in TGL and saw how much he enjoyed the team environment and the atmosphere at SoFi Center. WTGL is an exciting opportunity to bring that same energy to women’s golf, and I am looking forward to experiencing it myself.”
In fact, Australia could be one of WTGL’s biggest opportunities. Women already account for 42 per cent of Australian golfers, while 60 per cent of new golfers are women. It is the hope then for WTGL to build on that momentum with an innovative format that gives younger women new role models and a fresh way to connect with the sport, and eventually create new, young, Aussie female stars in the game.
The latest National Golf Foundation data also shows women and girls have become a driving force behind golf’s participation growth in the US, accounting for 52 per cent 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 per cent) 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 per cent from 31 per cent a year earlier, according to the latest R&A data. Perhaps even more revealing is that women now represent 53 per cent of adults participating in alternative golf formats, up from 50 per cent in the previous report – evidence that women are increasingly engaging with golf beyond the traditional nine-hole and 18-hole experiences.
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, 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 Yoon, 23, grew up playing indoor golf with her father as it is popular in her 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.”
China’s Yin, who recently claimed a sixth LPGA Tour title and is a former world No.1, knows the importance of this new venture for her sport. “WTGL is a great opportunity for me and for women’s golf. I have always enjoyed team competition, and this format will give us a fun way to showcase our games and personalities while introducing new fans to the sport,” she said.
Thitikul, an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, echoed similar sentiments as Yin as the duo prepare to represent Motor City Golf Club. “The team format, fast pace and technology can introduce golf to a new generation of fans,” the 23-year-old said.
The hope now is for other young girls who watch WTGL to pick up the sport and subsequently shine on the biggest stage.
