TGL might be a key part of golf’s future. Men and women going head-to-head may be the next step

When Michelle Wie West was barely a teenager, she dreamed not just of being a professional golfer, but of playing professionally against the men full-time.

When Michelle Wie West was barely a teenager, she dreamed not just of being a professional golfer, but of playing professionally against the men full-time. She went on to become the Women’s US Open champion, but her specific dream never quite materialized; however, more than 20 years later, she has seen with her own eyes that it may now be possible for male and female golfers to regularly compete against each other on a level playing field. Attending a recent TGL (TMRW Golf League) event with the Los Angeles Golf Club team that she co-owns, Wie West told CNN Sports that she was blown away by the technology that has helped revolutionize one of the world’s most traditional games. “It’s crazy,” she exclaimed. “It’s like watching ‘Back to the Future,’ like watching flying cars and that kind of stuff!” In January, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy partnered with NBC Sports’ former president of golf, Mike McCarley, to launch TGL. It’s a fast-paced 3-on-3 team competition that plays out in a high-tech, purpose-built arena. The finals of the event are being held at 9 p.m. ET on Monday on ESPN. Players launch their tee shots towards a towering screen that’s as tall as a five-story building, their balls becoming digitally represented in a virtual hole. The players then wander over to chip and putt around an animatronic green, which can be rotated through 360 degrees and its topography manipulated by hundreds of hydraulic jacks beneath the surface.