Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy take another step in war against LIV Golf by launching TMRW Sports

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy announced the launch of TMRW Sports on Tuesday, in the latest rebuke to rival breakaway series LIV Golf.

Woods and McIlroy’s new startup company will aim to use technology as a way to cultivate a younger golf audience and is said to be partnering with the PGA Tour in some capacity.

The mega-rich Saudi breakaway league has poached many of the PGA Tour’s stars including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. 

Though Woods and McIlroy have stood firm amidst the raid from LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman. 

The combined 19-time major winners have refused to join, with Woods turning down a reported $800million offer of his own to join LIV Golf.

As recently as last week, some of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars gathered in Delaware to discuss the fightback against the Saudi-backed LIV Golf threat, with Woods flying in especially from his Florida home. 

‘So many athletes, entertainers, and people I meet from all walks of life share our passion for sports, but they also share our desire to build a better future for the next generation of sports fans,’ Woods said of TMRW in a press release.

The announcement follows a Golfweek report on Sunday that said McIlroy and Woods, two of the game’s biggest stars, would potentially have top golfers competing in a non-green grass stadium environment held in conjunction with the PGA Tour. 

Events are slated to begin in 2024 in which the Tour would be a partner, while NBC Sports would have an option to be a broadcaster, according to the story.  

Dustin Johnson (pictured right with Donald Trump) has been lured away to the LIV Golf Series

During crunch talks in Delaware, players discussed Tour plans for a potential 18 no-cut tournaments, involving 60 players, and crucially the scope to compete for $20million purses. 

For context, bitter rivals LIV Golf currently have $25m purses. 

The Tour isn’t reportedly stopping there and has conceived other ways, like partnering with TMRW Sports, to halt the momentum of LIV. 

 The 23 PGA Tour players who attended the crunch meeting to fight back against the LIV Golf threat led by Woods (right) and McIlroy (left) have been revealed

‘By joining forces with Tiger, Mike, and other TMRW Sports partners, we can shape the way that media and technology improve the sports experience,’ said four-time major winner McIlroy. 

‘In a world where technology provides us with so many choices for using our time, we want to make sports more accessible for as many people as possible.’   

Reportedly 20 of the world’s top 30-ranked players were present at Hotel du Pont in Delaware, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay and Joaquin Niemann and Adam Scott — who had been strongly linked to a switch to LIV Golf.

British Open champion Cameron Smith has reportedly already agreed a huge deal to join LIV

Crucially, there were notable absentees from the group amid rumors seven more players could jump ship to the Saudi-funded breakaway. 

The most telling was British Open champion Cameron Smith who has long been linked to a defection. 

Reports emerged earlier this month that the Australian had already agreed to a $100million offer to join the LIV Golf Series, despite playing the first of the FedEx Cup events in Memphis Tennessee. 

Woods was seen as ‘the alpha’ in the recent meeting of the world’s top players in Delaware

The World No. 2 is reportedly set to officially be unveiled alongside seven other big names by Norman’s LIV Golf – with the announcement due just after he finishes chasing a potential payday from the playoffs after the conclusion of the Tour Championship on August 28.   

The third component of Woods and McIlroy’s TMRW Sports trident is Mike McCarley, who served as NBC Sports’ president, golf, and global strategy. He will be the company’s chief executive officer.

Former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, who was an executive producer for various Olympics and Super Bowls, was also announced as an initial investor in TMRW Sports.