GBR Weekly | TGL Announce Schedule, Controversy Over 2025 Ryder Cup Ticket Prices
GBR Weekly | TGL Announce Schedule, Controversy Over 2025 Ryder Cup Ticket Prices
LIV Golf's Greg Norman to be replaced as CEO, LIV Golf announce deal with UNHCR, drone footage shows full extent of damage to Augusta National.
Good morning, GBR community,
Sit back with your favorite drink and enjoy the latest news from Golf Bizz Review.
It’s been another busy in the world of golf, and we’ve handpicked the major stories for you to get up to speed on everything happening.
This week, we’ll take a closer look at the following:
TGL presented by SoFi - announces its debut schedule. Keep track of the full fixture list, including when Tiger and Rory’s teams go head-to-head.
2025 Ryder Cup Ticket Prices Announced - can the US PGA really justify a nearly threefold increase in ticket prices for next year’s showdown at Bethpage Black?
Poston Wins Shriners Children’s Open - J.T. Poston claims his third victory on the PGA Tour to join the field at next year’s Masters and U.S. PGA Championship.
Gurrier Prevails In Spain - Julien Gurrier claims his maiden DP World Tour title after a record-equalling nine-hole playoff.
Norman To Be Removed As LIV CEO - as part of a bigger shake-up in the C-suite at LIV Golf, Greg Norman will not remain as CEO, but will he stay with LIV?
LIV Golf Sign Partnership With UNHCR - a groundbreaking deal has been announced that will see LIV Golf contribute $10 million over three years to help refugees gain access to sport.
How Much Damage Was Done To Augusta National? - new drone footage shows the full extent of the damage after Hurricane Helene devasted the region.
2025 Cobra Drivers Revealed - following the highly successful Darkspeed range, Cobra’s 2025 models hit the USGA conforming list.
2025 TGL Presented by SoFi Schedule Announced
The inaugural match on Tuesday, 7th January, will see New York Golf Club take on The Bay Golf Club. The New York Golf Club is captained by Xander Schauffele, with team-mates Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young, and Matt Fitzpatrick. The Bay Golf Club is led by Wyndham Clark, with Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry, and Min Woo Lee making up the rest of the team.
Tiger Woods and his Jupiter Links Golf Club debut in week two on January 14th, while Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common feature in week 4, January 27th, when they go up against Woods’ Jupiter Links.
The regular season will consist of the following:
Fifteen first-round matches
This will be followed by a four-team semi-final
Culminating in the best-of-three Finals Series on March 24-25, where teams will battle for the SoFi Cup.
TGL matches will be shown on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+. Start times vary between 6:30 pm and 9 pm ET.
The variation of start times ties in with events on the PGA Tour. TGL has worked closely with the PGA Tour to get the schedule right. January and February see the PGA Tour in its west coast swing, which is why matches are being played on Tuesdays to give players sufficient travel and rest time to participate in the TGL matches in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The Jan. 27 Woods vs. McIlroy match will start at 6:30 p.m. ET, giving players enough time to catch a charter flight to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am three days later.
A special Presidents Day triple-header on February 19 will feature matches at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. ET.
Ticket Info
Tickets go on sale to the public on October 29 at 10 a.m. ET. General admission starts at $160, and limited pre-sale tickets will be available from October 28.
Fans can look forward to an immersive experience at the 1,500-seat SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where the atmosphere is set to resemble the intensity of courtside NBA and NHL games.
“In partnership with ESPN, our season will complement the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Season with a fast-paced team competition that aims to captivate a wide range of sports fans with elements, like a shot clock, that are familiar to fans of other sports. TGL’s two-hour matches are perfect for prime time and will help bring more fans closer to some of the biggest names in golf.” - Mike McCarley, CEO and Founder, TMRW Sports/TGL.
Sportsnet To Host TGL In Canada
The length and terms of the agreement have not been disclosed; however, it helps the TGL brand grow in Canada, where there has already been interest in the tech-led league co-owned by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Canada is seen as an attractive market for TGL to expand into, and a Toronto-based company was in talks about owning one of the teams in the inaugural season.
The agreement with Sportsnet follows on from similar agreements being reached with:
Fox Sports, Australia
U-NEXT, Japan
JTBC/Pheonix Sports International, South Korea
“Combining the biggest names in golf with a unique format in prime time makes this an outstanding broadcast property, and we can’t wait to share it with sports fans across Canada.” - Greg Sansone, President of Sportsnet.
PGA Of America Holding Firm On $750 Ryder Cup Tickets
Ticket prices for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York are setting new records, stirring up debate among fans and industry insiders.
At $255 for practice rounds and $749 for competition days, these are the highest ticket prices in Ryder Cup history. However, the PGA of America stands firm, believing the prices reflect the event's prestige.
Over the past week, the news of the 2025 Ryder Cup ticket prices has been covered by many news outlets, including Sports Business Journal and Sports Illustrated. It will be interesting to follow how ticket sales go over the coming weeks.
The cost of tickets during competition days could significantly impact the atmosphere around Bethpage Black. The U.S. Team will still have a strong “thirteenth man” in the partisan galleries, but will the ticket prices prevent many of the famous New York fans from turning up and offering their support?
Likewise, the impact could be catastrophic for European fans. Not only do they have to budget for the ticket price, they also need to factor in the cost of flights and accommodation. The latter will be difficult to source, and it’s guaranteed that prices for accommodation will be hugely inflated due to demand and fans looking to stay within easy reach of the golf course.
Both American and European fans will then have to factor in the cost of food and drink at the course and any merchandise from the many merchandise tents located around Bethpage Black.
To put the cost of a competition-day ticket for the 2025 event into perspective, a 2023 competition-day ticket to attend Marco Simone Golf Club would have cost $277.
The 2025 Ryder Cup prices also stand out when you compare them to the average ticket cost to attend the major championships. If you had attended all four majors this year, you would have paid the following prices, starting with the most expensive:
The U.S. PGA Championship - $148
The Open Championship - $145
The Masters - $140
The U.S. Open - $140
The above prices are a medium price on a general admission ticket.
The PGA of America doesn’t seem to be bothered by the condemnation levelled at them in the wake of announcing the Ryder Cup ticket prices. They have justified the cost of the tickets by outlining the following factors in determining the price points:
Location Costs: The PGA spent over a year determining how to price the event near New York City, factoring in the area’s high costs.
Event Scale: Hosting 50,000 people daily and covering expenses like volunteers, media, and security.
Revenue Dependency: The Ryder Cup is a key source of revenue for the PGA, helping fund other events, including the Senior PGA and KPMG Women's PGA.
Ryder Cup Championship Director Bryan Karns pointed out that the price of tickets aligns with major sporting events like the World Series and NBA Finals, seeing the Ryder Cup as a “Tier 1” event. Karns explained that the aim was to match the high demand for this "bucket list" experience, with over 50,000 attendees expected daily.
The ticket prices for next year follow the controversy that was part of the 2023 showdown with “Hatgate”. Patrick Cantlay was in the eye of the storm as reports suggested he refused to wear a Ryder Cup hat because he wasn’t getting paid to play in the event.
Players questioning the right to be paid to play in the Ryder Cup is not new. However, in the current climate surrounding professional golf and the focus on money being critical to the ongoing agreement talks between the PGA Tour and PIF, golf fans are not impressed that golfers who feature in the Ryder Cup are very well paid.
Being asked to pay $750 just to get in the gates at Bethpage Black is seen as a further widening of the gap between the professional game and the fans.
Fans will find out in the coming weeks if they have successfully been randomly selected to purchase tickets following a registration process on the official Ryder Cup website, which closes today.
Whether fans will turn down the opportunity to purchase tickets given the pricing remains to be seen.
The bigger question is whether next year’s Ryder Cup will maintain the same atmosphere that makes the biannual event so special in the golfing calendar.
“There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening game World Series on their bucket list. Ultimately, we felt like that's where we are. ... So we wanted to make sure we priced it appropriately.” - Bryan Karns, Tournament Director, 2025 Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup Volunteers Charged $400
As with any major sporting event, the success of the Ryder Cup is supported by the number of volunteers who give up their time to clean litter, act as marshals for the crowds and numerous other tasks.
Further controversy reported by Ben Rumsby in the UK’s The Telegraph indicates that volunteers will have to pay nearly $400 to work at next year’s Ryder Cup.
The “Volunteer Package” costs $392 after taxes and credit card processing fees. For that, the volunteer will receive:
A uniform
Drawstring bag
Commemorative pin
Food packages during shift hours
By comparison, people who volunteered for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club were not charged.
Poston Claims Shriners
J.T. Poston claimed his third PGA Tour title at the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin with a one-stroke victory over Doug Ghim.
Poston began round four with a three-stroke lead and played a steady front nine, recording the first and fourth birdies for an outward nine of 33. Ghim meanwhile closed the lead to one shot when he eagled the ninth hole to set up an interesting battle on the back nine.
It could have been tied at the top after ten holes, but Poston made a gutsy five-footer to keep his nose in front. Ghim ran out of steam after his fireworks on the front nine and had to settle for a string of pars before his next birdie came at sixteen.
Meanwhile, Poston managed to pull further ahead with birdies at twelve, thirteen, and fifteen. Poston recorded his third bogey of the week at the seventeenth, cutting his lead and further pressure was applied when Ghim birdied the eighteenth.
Poston faced a four-foot par putt on the last to avoid a playoff and calmly sank the putt to earn himself a spot in next year’s Masters and PGA Championship fields, along with an invite to The Sentry as a PGA Tour winner in early January.
“That was big. Doug was obviously making some birdies, and he made a nice three there on 9 and was applying the pressure. I told myself I was playing good, putting good, just trying to stay in my own lane. But, yeah, those putts on 9 and 10 to keep the lead and never quite give it up was big.” - J.T. Poston, winner of the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open.
Guerrier Wins Maiden DP World Tour Title After Nine-Hole Playoff
Frenchman Julien Guerrier recorded his first victory after 230 starts on the DP World Tour after overcoming local favorite Jorge Campillo to win the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters.
The two players battled it out during a tense final round at the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. Going into the back nine, there were two-shot swings on both the eleventh and thirteenth holes and an exchange of birdies by both players as they tried to wrestle control of the lead.
Campillo had the initiative with a one-shot lead, playing the final hole. However, the drama wasn’t finished, with Campillo making a bogey before Guerrier holed a gutsy par-saving putt to tie Campillo and send them back to the eighteenth for a playoff.
Both players had opportunities to claim victory in the playoff, but as the pair played their ninth playoff hole, Gurrier held his nerve to hole a par putt that handed him victory.
The playoff equalled the longest playoff recorded on the DP World Tour. Although the home crowd would have loved Campillo to have won, they were happy for Gurrier to claim the spoils after being entertained by the exploits of the two golfers throughout the afternoon.
"I can't believe it because Jorge is a great player. I knew it would be really hard because his putting is amazing. Also, my iron game was not in good shape today, but my putting was really good. So I was trying to do my best, and I'm really happy. On the last putt, I was thinking of my kids to give me the strength to hit it, so thanks to my family and my team.
"It's a long wait, and I'm very happy." - Julien Gurrier, winner of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters.
Major Shakeup Looming at LIV Golf as Greg Norman's CEO Position Under Review
Greg Norman's tenure as CEO of LIV Golf appears to be nearing its end. In a significant development that could reshape the controversial golf league's future, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has enlisted a premier executive search firm to identify potential successors. This move comes at a crucial time as LIV Golf seeks to strengthen its position in professional golf's complex landscape.
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