What does Xander Schauffele think about debut TGL season? He has one important tweak
Tom D'Angelo
- Schauffele proposes ending the season before The Players Championship, which takes place in March.
- TGL's inaugural season ran from January to March, with a break during the Genesis Invitational and Players Championship.
- Mike McCarley, a TGL founder, states that the league is working on the 2026 schedule but hasn't confirmed any date changes.
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Xander Schauffele offered one opinion on a change he and other players would like to see as TGL starts looking forward to Season Two.
Schauffele, whose New York team was swept by Atlanta this week in the best-of-3 final series, would like to see a shorter season or one that ends before The Players Championship.
"I'm sure a lot of fans and the producers and ESPN, everyone is going to have a little bit of input," Schauffele said. "I think just like us players sit down in our off season with our team, they're going to sit down here and see how they can tweak everything, whether it's shortening the season or having it end (sooner).
"I was talking to someone earlier about that; having it end sort of just before The Players, that would be something that we'd be up for."
The Players is set for March 12-15, 2026. That would mean ending the playoffs a week earlier, March 2 and 3, which is the week between the Cognizant Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
TGL's inaugural season started Jan. 7 and concluded Tuesday. The schedule included five regular-season matches for each of the six teams and two weeks of playoffs that included single semifinals matches followed the next week by the best-of-3 finals.
The league was dark the week of the Genesis Invitational and Players. So what Schauffele is proposing is in essence ending two weeks earlier.
TGL, ESPN already working on 2026 schedule
Mike McCarley, the man who brought the concept of an indoor, high-tech golf league to co-founders Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, said the league and ESPN have started working on the 2026 schedule.
Whether or not that includes a shift in the dates is not known.
"This is complementary to the existing PGA Tour," McCarley said. "You keep iterating on versions of the schedule. But the core premise is the same. You use football as a promotional platform, not a don't compete with it, right?"
One of two things would have to happen for the league to end before The Players: Start in December, which would mean ESPN having to schedule around any bowl games and "Monday Night Football" and then likely taking two weeks off around Christmas and New Year's; or some doubleheaders at the start of the season.
The first three weeks in Year 1 were on Tuesdays because of NFL and college football, including the national championship game. One match was played each of the first four weeks.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.