While women’s golf will have its own version of an indoor virtual league starting next winter, one of the top LPGA stars is lamenting the fact that women aren’t included in the men’s version.
The TGL, featuring top men’s stars, is early in its second season.
Asked about the upcoming WTGL, the women’s edition that will share the TGL’s virtual platform in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Nelly Korda told Golfweek on Tuesday, “I have mixed feelings on it if I’m being very honest, and I’m surprised no other girls have, or no one’s really spoken out about it. I think it’s a huge and unbelievable miss that we’re not playing alongside the men.
“There’s no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women are on the same playing field, playing for the same exact amount of money. But I also think it’s great that we are getting this opportunity, so that’s my mixed feelings.”
Korda, a 27-year-old Florida native, spoke to Golfweek in Orlando, where she is preparing for the LPGA’s season-debut Tournament of Champions. The two-time major winner has not yet committed to competing in the WTGL, which has an entry list that features world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull, Lydia Ko, Lottie Woad and Rose Zhang.
“I’m just still weighing out the time commitment,” Korda told Golfweek. “I just haven’t really thought about it too much, because I’ve been really focused on trying to get ready for this season. I think logistically, they’re still trying to figure some stuff out, so I will just weigh out my options in the near future.”
Mike McCarley, a former television executive who founded TGL with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy under their TMRW Sports banner, previously discussed the possibility of TGL becoming coed.
“I think that is something that’s interesting to us and is interesting to the LPGA and is interesting to a lot of the players we’re talking to, but right now, we’re really focused on building (the TGL) out and providing, frankly, a nice stage and really nice platform to showcase the players and their personalities,” McCarley said, according to Golfweek.
