On Tuesday morning, Rory McIlroy opened the round of press conferences in advance of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But the first question was not about the upcoming tournament, which concludes later today. Instead, a reporter asked about the golfer’s timeline from Monday night to that particular moment, almost 11am.
Dave Faries here, bracing for what on the surface seems like a mundane response. After all, the boarding times stamped on a ticket are probably the least exciting part of a journey.
“So I probably got out of the arena about 9:30 last night, got home at 9:35. It’s not much of a commute,” McIlroy told the assembled media. “Was in bed at 10, woke up this morning at 5, took off at 7, landed here at 9:30—and here I am.”
The arena mentioned by the PGA Tour veteran of 17 years is the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It is home to a new televised golf spectacle known as TGL, a league played not on courses, but in a stadium. Teams of professional golfers hit the ball into digital screens that use data from speed and loft and such to determine where the shot lands. They line up on patches simulating actual fairway grass, rough or sand. Putting is a marvel of technology.
On Monday night, McIlroy played in a TGL event. Tuesday morning he was in Pebble Beach to start practice rounds for the real thing. And therein lies an interesting situation that has been developing in the game of golf.
“I think there’s a novelty factor at this point,” McIlroy said of the TGL, which launched a few weeks ago. “I think that the good thing that we’ve seen so far over at least the first three weeks…the demographic is skewing much younger.”
According to McIlroy, the average person watching PGA Tour events on television is in the early 60s, age-wise. “We’ve been able to drop that about 13 years to right around 50,” he adds. “It’s doing what we wanted it to do, which is to try to entice a younger demographic to watch golf in a way that’s maybe more manageable for them.”
TGL is a two-hour show. A round of traditional golf by one group plays out over more than five hours. YouTube videos of nonprofessionals—average golfers presenting a selection of shots—are drawing major attention.
Of concern to those involved in the sport are sets of numbers that seem off-kilter. Data tracked by the National Golf Foundation reveal steady growth. More than 45 million Americans played on- or off-course in 2023. There have been 10 consecutive years with more than 2 million newcomers taking up the on-course game. On the junior level, girls make up 37 percent of those who take part, up from 15 percent in 2000.
On the other hand, Sports Business Journal reports that television viewership plunged by 17 percent on Saturdays and 19 percent on Sundays—not counting the four major tournaments—between 2023 and last year. The Saudi-backed LIV tour, which caused a harmful rift in the world of golf, drew just 89,000 viewers for its individual championship round (the PGA Tour averages 2.2 million viewers on Sundays).
There are a couple of caveats to the survey numbers.
First of all, there is a cost to participating in traditional golf. People tend to take up the sport when young but quit playing as college, career and family take over. The percentage of those playing rounds rises again for those ages 45 and older.
Second is the way people consume golf on television. Nielsen data does not track those who prefer to stream telecasts on their schedule. The PGA Tour recorded 113.1 million social video views in 2024, up 6 percent. The audience for “golf product”—highlights to full rounds—on ESPN+ rose by 15 percent in terms of minutes watched.
McIlroy appreciates that some want to consume the sport as entertainment, that they find telecasts of the traditional game lacking in excitement. But he also wonders about the wisdom of tinkering with the game.
“There’s a lot of things about golf that are very different than other sports, but I think that’s what makes it unique,” he points out. “Golf is golf at the end of the day. It’s been this way for hundreds of years. First and foremost we’re professional golfers; we want to go out there and shoot the best score possible that we can and try to beat each other. You know, hopefully people find that entertaining. And if not, then I don’t know what to tell them.”
This week’s cover stories feature one spectacular round of traditional golf, as well as planned renovations to a 100-year-old lodge that has thrived on the game. I hope you enjoy either or both.
For updates on the tournament itself, visit montereycountynow.com.