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- Following the footsteps of TGL, TMRW Sports and LPGA announced the WTGL, which will be launched in the 2026-27 winter.
- The league announced Lexi Thompson, an established figure in American golf, as its face.
- Critics, however, found the choice absurd, arguing that it defies the very concept of TGL.
The LPGA and TMRW Sports unveiled WTGL on January 6, 2026, promising a tech-driven platform to showcase the world’s best female golfers. Notably, Lexi Thompson was announced as the face of the expansion, a choice that hasn’t made much sense to Brendan Porath and Andy Johnson, hosts of The Shotgun Start. This is despite the fact that she has been a central figure in American Women’s golf for the past decade.
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Thompson stood at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, took practice swings, and spoke to the media about the venture’s potential. But within 24 hours, Porath and Johnson had zeroed in on a central contradiction: a league marketed as the future of golf is being fronted by a player who has already stepped back from full-time competition.
“Why don’t you get somebody young out there?” Johnson pressed, clarifying he meant young in career trajectory, not age. “Someone who will anchor the LPGA for the next decade.”
Per Johnson, if WTGL’s purpose is to hook casual ESPN viewers and funnel them toward the broader LPGA ecosystem, the flag bearer matters. She becomes the bridge between a primetime exhibition and week-to-week tour investment.
“Wouldn’t the point of the women’s TGL be like, I watched these women play, they have great personalities, they’re really talented on ESPN, and thus then I might go watch an LPGA event,” Johnson reasoned.
TGL’s own research supports that logic. Season 1 drew one of the youngest audiences in sports with the median age being 52, second only to the NBA. Additionally, 32% of viewers aged 18-34 did not regularly watch the PGA Tour before tuning in. Ten percent of existing fans watched more coverage after discovering TGL. Those numbers represent a blueprint. Casual attention converts to deeper engagement when viewers can follow their new favorites into traditional competition.
Notably, Thompson, plays a limited LPGA schedule. The 30-year-old retains her playing status but has publicly embraced a reduced competitive life.
Still, Porath shared his belief that the TGL would achieve more success as compared to the current LPGA schedule.
“I will say that I think women’s TGL has a better chance of success than the week-to-week LPGA tour in its current construct,” Porath noted during the episode released on January 7.
The casting choice exposes a deeper tension in WTGL’s positioning, one that threatens to undermine the format’s genuine potential.
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Why WTGL’s Lexi Thompson strategy contradicts its own pitch
The irony sharpens when you consider Andy Johnson’s other observation: WTGL’s short-form, personality-driven format might actually suit women’s golf better than the current LPGA weekly model. The tech-forward approach featuring mic’d up moments, risk-reward decisions and real-time analytics creates exactly the kind of engagement platform that could elevate emerging stars.
Thompson herself articulated this potential in a recent interview.
“What TGL has done for the guys—it just brings a whole different fan base to the game of golf,” Thompson told SportsCenter. “I think fans really get involved more and see the personalities of the guys, and now the women.”
She’s right about the mechanism. But mechanisms require the right inputs.
TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley framed WTGL as a complement to “the LPGA Tour’s global appeal.” Commissioner Craig Kessler called it “another global stage” that helps fans “connect more deeply” with athletes. Connection, though, demands continuity. It demands a star whose WTGL presence amplifies her LPGA visibility rather than substituting for it.
For now, the league has chosen a veteran over a rising force. As WTGL prepares for its launch during the 2026-27 winter, it will be interesting to see if Thompson’s presence serves as the ceiling or a foundation stone for bigger structures.
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