Good evening!

Today saw the first ever Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) match.

No idea what that is?

TGL is a new golf league conceptualised and brought to life by two of the sport’s biggest stars, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. It combines elements of real and virtual golf in a 1,500-seat arena.

The opening match of the season was between The Bay Golf Club (Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, and Ludvig Åberg) and New York Golf Club (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rickie Fowler). The Bay blew New York out of the water 9-2.

Scroll down to the two minute section for a full explainer.

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Stat of the day

70
The number of years since Newcastle United, a club in the English Premier League, have won a major domestic trophy. The club has an opportunity to break their drought after beating Arsenal 2-0 in the first match of their EFL Cup semi-final tie. Newcastle will play Arsenal again in the second match of the semi-final fixture and need to stay ahead on goal difference to advance to the final. The other semi-final tie is being contested between Tottenham and defending champions Liverpool, with the first of two games to be played tomorrow at 7:00am (AEDT).

Quote of the day

“I don’t know how he grew up, so I can’t judge him as a man just based off one action that he made, as violent as a crime it was. God forbid him doing that to someone else. I don’t ever want that to happen. But for me, just being able to forgive him. I have to be able to forgive him to have that weight off my chest.”
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall speaking to reporters on Monday about the teenager who shot him in the chest during an attempted robbery in San Francisco last year. Pearsall fully recovered from the gunshot and took the field for the 49ers this season, taking 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie year. The suspect, who has not been named because he is underage, was also wounded by a gunshot during the altercation. 

Random fact of the day

The Ray Guy Award, given annually to the best punter in college football, has been won by an Australian in eight of the past 11 years. Punters for three of the four teams set to take the field in the semi-finals of the college football playoffs this weekend are Australian. They are James Rendell (Notre Dame), Riley Thompson (Penn State), and Joe McGuire (Ohio State).

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In case you missed it…

🎾 Novak Djokovic has been seen training for the first time with newly appointed tennis coach and former on-court rival Andy Murray. The pair trained together at Melbourne Park on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Australian Open. Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios may be in doubt for the tournament after withdrawing from an exhibition match scheduled for tomorrow against Djokovic. The 29-year-old announced on Instagram that he had an abdominal strain and said he “will be resting and doing everything I can to be OK by the AusOpen."

🏏 Nearly 200 UK politicians have signed a letter urging the England and Wales Cricket Board to boycott an upcoming men’s cricket fixture against Afghanistan, in protest of the Taliban-controlled government’s treatment of women. England are scheduled to play Afghanistan in a one-day Champions Trophy match on 26 February. Since the Taliban came into power in 2021, Afghan women have been restricted from participating in almost all public life, including sport. Players from Afghanistan’s women’s cricket side fled the country that year, and will play their first match since then this month. Cricket Australia has a policy that Australia will only play Afghanistan in tournaments, not bilateral competitions. 

🏀 In Tuesday night’s NBL fixture, the Illawarra Hawks beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 89-84. Trey Kell III starred for the Hawks with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. After having lost their previous two home games, the win helps the Hawks stay on the top of the NBL table with 14 wins from 21 matches. Meanwhile, the JackJumpers sit in sixth place with five rounds remaining in the regular season. The final match of round 15 will see the Brisbane Bullets (7th) host the NZ Breakers (9th) tonight at 7:30pm (AEDT).

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Sutherland leads Renegades to victory over Scorchers as BBL finals edge closer

Guided by captain and all-rounder Will Sutherland, the Melbourne Renegades beat the Perth Scorchers by 4 wickets with 2 balls remaining at Optus Stadium in Perth last night. With Big Bash Finals beginning on 21 January, the race for the final four spots in the competition is heating up. 

What happened

The Scorchers batted first and set a total of 147 for the Renegades to chase. The visitors lost four wickets early but regained momentum with a superb innings from Sutherland, who scored 70 runs off 45 balls and built a 92-run partnership alongside Tom Rogers. While Sutherland lost his wicket with seven balls remaining, the Renegades were able to score the 12 runs required to win. 

Season Update

The Scorchers and Renegades have now both won three of their seven matches and sit in fifth and sixth on the BBL ladder. The Sydney Sixers are the competition leaders with their local rivals the Sydney Thunder one point behind in second place. Both Sydney sides have won four of their six matches. Rounding out the top four are the Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat. Struggling to assert themselves this season, the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Stars have both won only two of seven matches and sit at the bottom of the table in seventh and eighth. 

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Tomorrow’s Golf League tees off in Florida for inaugural season

Two of golf’s biggest names, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, have combined forces to create a new golf league that mixes real and virtual elements.

The competition, named Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL), kicked off on Tuesday night (local time) in Palm Beach, Florida at a purpose-built arena. Two Australians, Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, are competing.

Format

TGL features six teams with four players in each team. The teams represent golf clubs in six U.S. cities and towns - Boston, Jupiter, New York, LA, Atlanta, and San Francisco - though the players are not necessarily from those places.

At each match, two teams of three players will go head to head and play 15 holes. Nine of those holes will feature three players from each team alternating shots. The final six holes will be one-on-one matchups. The team or individual who sinks their ball in the fewest shots wins the hole. Each hole is worth one point and the team with the most points at the end wins. If teams are tied after 15 holes, a closest-to-pin competition (best of three) will be played to determine a winner.

Throughout the season, teams will play each other once. Two points are awarded for a win. The losing team can salvage a point if they lose in overtime. The finals will feature the top four teams at the end of the regular season, who will play semi-finals and a final to crown the inaugural winner.

The SoFi Centre

The venue for these matches is the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach, Florida – the first virtual golf venue of its kind. Players will hit any shot that is more than 50 yards from the hole (like tee and approach shots) into a virtual screen. Competitors will hit off fairways and rough made of real grass, or out of bunkers built with the same sand used at Augusta, Georgia where the Masters is played.

Once the players are within 50 yards of the hole, they will move to the ‘GreenZone’. This a custom-built area that features a green on a turntable, which can be rotated and have its topography adjusted from below. The ability to mix these variables means the hole will be different every time.

What they said

McIlroy told ESPN: “A lot of things that we’ve taken from other sports like a shot-clock, a timeout, things that you don’t see in regular golf, so, you know, trying to appeal to that bigger sports audience out there.”

Irish golfer Shane Lowry posted on X: "If hitting the first ever shot in TGL history tomorrow night wasn't nerve-racking enough, imagine if I miss the 60 ft screen 🙈😂."

A message from Deakin University

What mothers really need at sport events

This study examines the distinction between "family-friendly" and "mother-friendly" sport stadium experiences. While mothers appreciate facilities like breastfeeding rooms, they find stadium layouts and policies often hinder their ability to balance caregiving and fandom.

Key findings include a preference for flexible spaces that allow mothers to care for children without missing the game.

The commentary suggests more accessible, open spaces and fewer restrictions on caregiving items. It urges sport organisations to create environments that better integrate mothering with fandom.

This journal article was co-written by Deakin professor, Kim Toffoletti.

Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

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