{"id":18012,"date":"2026-10-23T07:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T07:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/18012\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T07:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T07:06:12","slug":"xander-schauffele-leads-star-exodus-as-four-golfers-leave-tiger-woods-tgl-ahead-of-2027-season-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/18012\/","title":{"rendered":"Xander Schauffele Leads Star Exodus as Four Golfers Leave Tiger Woods\u2019 TGL Ahead of 2027 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy\u2019s technology-driven golf league, TGL, is preparing for its third season with a revamped lineup. On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the league unveiled its 35-player roster for the 2027 season, confirming that four notable players will not return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"player_stn-heading__CeYKZ\">Watch What\u2019s Trending Now!<\/p>\n<p>Two-time major winner, Xander Schauffele; former World No. 1 Adam Scott, four-time PGA Tour winner and NBC\u2019s lead analyst Kevin Kisner, and former U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover have decided to move on from TGL. However, neither the departing players nor league officials have publicly disclosed the reasons behind their exits.<\/p>\n<p>Schauffele\u2019s departure from New York Golf Club opens the door for Alex Fitzpatrick and Ben Griffin. Shane Lowry replaces Scott at Boston Common Golf, Keith Mitchell takes Kisner\u2019s place at Jupiter Links Golf Club, and Michael Brennan replaces Glover at Atlanta Drive GC.<\/p>\n<p>Last time, Kevin Kisner delivered a moment to remember when he skulled a shot and it smacked off a flagstick. Every player looked for cover as the ball ricocheted off the flagstick and  Tiger Woods couldn\u2019t control his laughter. Kisner, a four-time winner known for his sense of humor and easy-going nature was a good fit for TGL. It\u2019s not clear if he will be involved with the league in any form. <\/p>\n<p>These changes coincide with a significant structural evolution for TGL. The league will expand to seven franchises, with teams increasing from four players to five. The third season begins December 27, 2026, at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Motor City Golf Club Leads TGL\u2019s Expansion<\/p>\n<p>The new Detroit-based franchise, Motor City Golf Club, will feature five-time major champion Brooks Koepka alongside Jackson Koivun, Si Woo Kim, Jake Knapp and Bud Cauley.<\/p>\n<p>The roster combines established experience with emerging talent. Koivun went unbeaten in his Presidents Cup debut with a 2-0-1 record. Cauley claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at the 2026 RBC Canadian Open, capping a remarkable comeback from injuries sustained in a 2018 car accident.<\/p>\n<p>Knapp and Kim add a combined five PGA Tour victories to the lineup, including Kim\u2019s triumph at the 2017 Players Championship. The franchise\u2019s arrival adds another competitive dimension to TGL while expanding the league\u2019s city-based rivalries.<\/p>\n<p>Defending Champions Retain Their Core<\/p>\n<p>Defending SoFi Cup champions Los Angeles Golf Club will retain Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, and Sahith Theegala. Ben James joins as the fifth player after finishing No. 1 in the 2026 PGA Tour University Ranking to earn his PGA Tour card.<\/p>\n<p>James also became the fifth player in NCAA Division I men\u2019s golf history to earn first-team All-American honors four times. His addition gives Los Angeles a promising young talent while preserving the core that delivered last season\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n<p>Jupiter Links and Boston Common Strengthen Their Lineups<\/p>\n<p>Jupiter Links Golf Club will bring back Tom Kim and Max Homa after the team recovered from a 0-2 start last season to reach the Finals. Akshay Bhatia, previously an alternate, becomes a full-time player after helping Jupiter defeat top-seeded Boston Common in the Semifinals.<\/p>\n<p>Kim also produced one of the season\u2019s standout moments with a hole-in-one in the regular-season finale that helped Jupiter clinch a playoff berth. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy\u2019s Boston Common Golf made TGL history by completing the league\u2019s first-ever trade, acquiring Shane Lowry from Bay Golf Club. Lowry joins Keegan Bradley, Michael Thorbjornsen and Hideki Matsuyama.<\/p>\n<p>Thorbjornsen moves from alternate to full-time player after contributing six of Boston\u2019s league-leading 16 putts made from 10 feet or longer in 2026. He also claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the 2026 Rocket Classic.<\/p>\n<p>Bay Golf, meanwhile, welcomes Ryan Fox and Blades Brown alongside Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, and Ludvig \u00c5berg. The trade signals that player movement could become an increasingly important part of TGL\u2019s competitive landscape.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta and New York Revamp Their Rosters<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta Drive GC will retain Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Chris Gotterup and Billy Horschel, with Michael Brennan completing the roster after victories at the Wyndham Championship and Baycurrent Classic in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Gotterup moves from alternate to full-time player after tying for the TGL regular-season lead with five Singles Holes Won and recording three PGA Tour victories during the year.<\/p>\n<p>New York Golf Club will feature Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler alongside newcomers Alex Fitzpatrick and Ben Griffin. The Fitzpatrick brothers won the 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans as a team earlier this year, earning Alex his first PGA Tour title. Young also had a standout season with wins at The Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship.<\/p>\n<p>New York reached the inaugural Finals in 2025 but missed the playoffs in 2026. Its revised lineup will aim to restore that competitive momentum following Schauffele\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n<p>What the Changes Mean for TGL<\/p>\n<p>Although the reasons behind the four exits remain undisclosed, the roster shake-up highlights two broader trends: an influx of younger talent and greater flexibility in team construction.<\/p>\n<p>The additions of players such as Koivun, Brown and James suggest that emerging stars will play an increasingly important role in TGL\u2019s future. Meanwhile, the seventh franchise and expanded five-player rosters create more opportunities for teams to refresh their lineups and develop distinctive identities.<\/p>\n<p>TMRW Sports president of golf Rufus Hack emphasized those ambitions, pointing to growing rivalries, established team histories and the fresh energy brought by new players.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, TGL\u2019s third season will test whether its expanded format and revamped rosters can deliver an even more interesting competition. While Schauffele, Scott, Kisner and Glover are notable absences, Motor City Golf Club, the league\u2019s first trade and the promotion of emerging talent signal an ambitious new phase. When play begins on December 27, attention will turn to whether these changes translate into tighter contests, stronger rivalries, and another memorable SoFi Cup race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy\u2019s technology-driven golf league, TGL, is preparing for its third season with a revamped&hellip;","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[36,57],"class_list":["post-18012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-xander-schauffele","tag-tgl","tag-xander-schauffele","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117488957836494780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}