(Reuters) – U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick has agreed to participate in the tech-focused golf league that is being launched next year by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in conjunction with the PGA Tour, the company said on Tuesday.
World number 10 Fitzpatrick is the seventh player to commit to competing in TGL’s inaugural season along with fellow major winners Woods, McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Adam Scott and Collin Morikawa.
The league, whose launch was announced last August, is being billed as a first-of-its-kind experience for golf as each two-hour event will be held on a data-rich, virtual course complete with a tech-infused, short-game complex.
Organizers promise a high-energy, greenside fan experience for the short-form version of golf in a coliseum environment with every shot to be shown live on primetime television.
“While teeing it up with the world’s best has been a highlight of my career so far, this opportunity to compete in TGL is taking that experience to a whole other level,” England’s Fitzpatrick said in a news release.
“TGL combines world-class players in a team format within an arena environment for a global television audience. With a formula like that, it will create another platform for fans, especially young fans, to see our sport shine on a new stage.”
Fitzpatrick has played on two European Ryder Cup teams, has eight wins on the DP World Tour and won last year’s U.S. Open at The Country Club outside Boston. Fitzpatrick previously won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at the same location.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
