Rory McIlroy is having none of it
Rory McIlroy has rubbished suggestions that TGL could be behind a spate of injuries on the PGA Tour following setbacks for Collin Morikawa and himself.
McIlroy is competing for silverware at the Players Championship despite pulling out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational just seven days earlier through injury, whilst Morikawa managed only one hole at TPC Sawgrass before withdrawing after tweaking his back during a practice swing.
“It’s a little more travel for the guys, a little more,” McIlroy, who co-founded TGL alongside Tiger Woods, told the Palm Beach Post. “To put it solely on that is preposterous. No.”
McIlroy withdrew from the third signature event at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before the third round and made an eleventh-hour decision to participate in the Players Championship.
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“My ball speed on Tour is way faster than it is in TGL,” McIlroy added.
The remarks followed Billy Horschel’s social media defence against accusations that TGL was responsible for prominent player injuries, which also include Sahith Theegala and Justin Thomas.
Horschel sat out part of the 2025 season through injury and all the high-profile names endure lengthy journeys to Sofi Center alongside gruelling competition for the family-oriented broadcast and entertainment spectacle.
Ryan French from popular X account @acaseofthegolf1 posed the question that Horschel felt compelled to address. “Please stop! TGL had nothing to do with my injury,” Horschel penned.
“And I would suspect nothing to do with the other guys.”
The same account fired back at Horschel, asking: “Do you agree that a lot of TGL players are battling injuries right now?”
Horschel retorted: “Injuries happen in sport. I’m not battling an injury.”
The account continued to probe: “Is it possible that the extra travel and extra swings play a role? Also @btapleton pointed out the quote from Max that he swings harder at TGL.”
Horschel replied: “No I don’t. Extra swings. Not a chance. We make maybe 10-12 swings in a match.”
Theegala struggled with injury throughout the 2025 season after suffering an early oblique strain, which the tour star attributed to TGL excitement.
“It was my oblique in February [2025],” Theegala told PGATour.com. “The whole West Coast Swing, I felt great … but I had a TGL match right before Bay Hill, and you just get so amped up in those TGL matches, and I didn’t swing a club for 13 days.
“I hit a couple of drives like 183 mph ball speed. It’s something I never hit in a tournament, and one of the last drives I felt a little pop in my oblique, and I knew right away. I think there’s video of me like clutching and pressing it in. I knew right away it was not just a little-well, I didn’t know for sure, but it didn’t feel like it was just a little something.”
