Miami (AFP) – LPGA star Nelly Korda is still mulling over her possible participation in a women’s edition of the tech golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, calling the lack of mixed men’s and women’s teams an “unbelievable miss.”
“I have mixed feelings on it if I’m being very honest,” the two-time major champion told Golfweek ahead of the LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions in Orlando. “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.”
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The LPGA and TMRW Sports announced this month that a women’s edition of the indoor, tech-fueled league would launch in 2026-27. The league, which uses simulators with tee shots and a green that shifts position in an arena format, just started a second season in its specially built South Florida venue.
World number one Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Canada’s Brooke Henderson, England’s Charley Hull, and US veteran Lexi Thompson are among the LPGA stars who have signed on for the venture. Hull said Wednesday that she was pleased that WTGL matches would be played in the same venue as the men’s, even if they aren’t competing together.
“I’m just grateful for them giving us an opportunity no matter what really,” Hull said. “Could be something they build in the future, you never know. I feel like them giving us an opportunity to go out there on the same stage as the guys even though it’s not at the same time…I really respect that.”
Hull said she’d had an opportunity this week to check out the high-tech SoFi Center in Orlando where the matches are held this week. “I thought it was so impressive the way that green moved round, how the ball reacted on the green when I chipped on it, how it putted, the screen,” she said. “They’ve done a great job.”
Jeeno said she had yet to visit the venue, but she’s hoping the indoor league would be a chance for more fans to “see how good we are and how good women’s sport is.”
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