On Thursday, TGL and ESPN announced a multi-year deal, financial terms of which were not released. The cable channel will air TGL events with the inaugural TGL match broadcast on January 9 in prime time.

Additionally, ABC will air a “TGL Preview Show” on December 30 that will serve as a fans’ tutorial of sorts for the new golf league, introducing the six teams of PGA Tour and showcasing the SoFi Center and its custom-built virtual course.

I can’t wait for @TGL to launch in January. Catch the action on @espn! https://t.co/aNyNwkY5KW

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 5, 2023

“Innovation and creativity are core to our ESPN mission and TGL will bring those tenets to life for golf fans,” said Rosalyn Durant, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Acquisitions. “TGL is going to be a two-hour presentation unlike anything you have seen before. All players will wear live microphones and viewers will have unprecedented access during competition. It’s an exciting landscape for presenting golf and we look forward to bringing it to fans.”

Teams will play 15 regular-season matches, followed by semi-finals and the final.

In addition to Woods and McIlroy, TGL has already got commitments from the following tour pros: Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, and Billy Horschel. Tom Kim, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry were the latest commitments announced on Thursday. Two spots remain to be filled.

Four of the six teams also have ownership groups in place.

• TGL Atlanta led by Arthur M Blank, AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstores)
• TGL Boston led by John Henry, Tom Werner, and Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool, Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Los Angeles Golf Club led by Alexis Ohanian (Angel City), Serena Williams, and Venus Williams; as well as limited partners the Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco and Michelle Wie West
• TGL New York led by Steven A Cohen (New York Mets), Cohen Private Ventures

Main image: Supplied

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By John Huggan
Just three months short of his 90th birthday—“level fives” in his language—Peter Alliss passed away overnight. Born in Berlin on Feb. 28, 1931 (he was, at the time, the biggest baby in Europe, weighing in at 14 pounds 12 ounces), the doyen of golf commentating died peacefully in his sleep at home in England.

Eight times a Ryder Cup player and the winner of more than 20 events around the world, Alliss ended his distinguished playing career in the early 1970s and quickly made himself an almost indispensable part of tournament coverage on television the world over. No one in that business knew the game better; few were as quick-witted or humorous talking about what the man himself never forgot was just a game. As well as commentating regularly for the BBC, he also worked for ESPN and ABC Sports along with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

RELATED: Golf Digest Middle East’s 2014 conversation with the ‘voice of golf’

Alliss came from a distinguished golfing family. His father, Percy, played four times for Great Britain & Ireland in the Ryder Cup and was a consistent tournament winner in the two decades preceding World War II.

“I never really saw my father play,” said the younger Alliss. “But he was a lovely golfer, the Luke Donald of his day, or a Gene Littler. He had a perfectly balanced swing and was a superb driver of the ball. His putting was a bit shaky, but if you look at the greens back then they were worse than my lawn. I got a hand-written letter from Henry Cotton when I won the Assistants Championship in 1951 or ’52. Dear Peter, many congratulations on your first victory. Your father was the sweetest swinger I’ve ever seen. What a beautiful player. Sincerely, Henry Cotton.”

First through his father and later through his own exploits, Peter spent a lifetime knowing just about everyone of consequence in the game. One of his proudest claims was that, apart from maybe 15 of them, he had met, played with or known every Open champion since 1900.

“I came home one day from school to find a few of my father’s friends sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of tea and a chat,” he said. “Round that table were Reg Whitcombe [1938 Open champion], Ernest Whitcombe [1924 Open runner-up], Alf Padgham [1936 Open champion], Alf Perry [1935 Open champion], Dick Burton [1939 Open champion] and my father. It was summer time and I remember Ernest saying he had to go. He had to get back to the club—on the bus—because he had a couple of lessons that evening. Changed days indeed.”

Photo by Mrs Dulce R Stuart
Peter Alliss (left) stands next to his father Percy, circa 1961.

The young Alliss also made the acquaintance of Bobby Jones, caddying

for the great amateur in what was surely Jones’ last round of golf in the United Kingdom. It was just after the World War II at Parkstone Golf Club outside Bournemouth on England’s south coast. Jones, wearing his colonel’s uniform and with his tie tucked into his shirt, played with Alliss senior and Reg Whitcombe.

What often gets overlooked as he became more and more famous for his work with a microphone in hand was how good a player Peter Alliss was. Renowned for the smoothness and elegance of his full swing—and, later, terrible putting (the number plate on his car read ‘PUT3’) marked by a dreadful bout of the yips that, he claimed, began on the 11th green at Augusta National during a Masters—he twice played Arnold Palmer in Ryder Cup singles and finished unbeaten.

“I have a very good Ryder Cup record, mostly because of my fear of losing,” said Alliss, who went 10-15-5 on teams that went just 1-6-1. “I always had the attitude that ‘you weren’t going to beat me.’ I believe you play the man, not the course. I played Arnold three times when he was at his peak and the only one I lost was a foursome. I beat him once and halved with him in singles. I also beat Billy Casper, Gay Brewer and Ken Venturi at various times, and halved with Tony Lema.”

There was more to Alliss than a formidable match-play record, of course. In stroke play he had his moments, although—as it was for his father—not winning an Open Championship was a lingering regret (he had five top-10 finishes in 25 appearances).

R&A Championships
Peter Alliss plays a shot during the 1967 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

“Looking back, I was a good player,” he said modestly. “I was the best player in Europe in the 1960s, without ever winning the Open. I won my first tournament as far back as 1954, the Daks event at Little Aston, and my 21st and last in 1969. So I averaged more than one per year. There are only a handful of British players who have ever won more than I did. I’m certainly in the top 10. And my total prize money didn’t come to £30,000.

“I was a very good ball-striker in my time. And, despite my reputation, I could putt, too. You don’t win 20-odd times if you can’t putt. I would, over the course of a round, hole four or five putts of at least 20 feet. But I’d occasionally miss from no more than 15 inches. And I never knew why. I’ve seen film of myself in the mid-60s and I had hardly any backswing at all.”

Later, with all of the above behind him, Alliss’ shrewd observations on all aspects of the game were just part of his appeal as a commentator and author (he wrote 20 books on golf, from golf history to instruction to memoir). Unashamedly “un-PC,” he was unapologetically a product of his upbringing in the post-war years.

“I hate to see things going to waste,” he said. “I still go round switching lights off. I can’t bear to throw food away. I’m a relic of what influenced me when I was young. Courtesies and manners are very important to me. These days, people think you’re a dinosaur if you stand up when a lady enters the room, or if you write thank-you notes. I know it’s all progress, but it’s a different world from the one I grew up in.”

That view of modern life did occasionally get Alliss into trouble. He was, for example, not one who viewed golf in the 21st century as being necessarily superior to what had gone before.

“I do believe that the most skillful golfers were those who played between 1900 and 1920,” he said, his tongue only slightly in his cheek. “Look at the scores they did. JH Taylor won the Open at Deal around that time with scores averaging 73.5 or whatever. Look at the clubs they used. The balls weren’t round and didn’t go anywhere. The bunkers were never raked. The course was only 300 yards shorter than it is today. And the wind blew and the rain was still wet. I reckon you could take the best 20 players of today, give them the old balls and clubs in a goodish wind and they wouldn’t do what JH and his mates did.”

And he wasn’t above speaking his mind on what he sees today. A part of his character that was known to irritate a few of today’s stars.

David Cannon/Getty Images
Alliss, seen and heard by American golf fans on ABC and ESPN, served as the “Voice of Golf” at the BBC for more than 50 years.

“I watch a lot of golf on television these days,” he said not long ago. “Mostly because I don’t want the players to think I don’t know what is going on. Which is rather conceited of me. And sometimes I don’t believe what I am seeing. In Dubai recently I saw a player hit a shot from behind a tree, from rough, over a pond from about 180 yards out. Sure enough, he didn’t even get halfway across the bloody water. That sort of situation happens time and again. No wonder guys like that are also-rans; they don’t have any golfing brains. They don’t know how to play.”

Despite his long relationship with the biennial contest, the Ryder Cup was not immune either. Nor was another of the game’s sacred cows, the Masters.

“The Ryder Cup has taken on a little bit of a false persona, a bit like Augusta and the Masters,” said. “Just as Augusta National is supposed to be the greatest place in the world—it isn’t—the Ryder Cup is supposed to be the greatest golf event in the world—it isn’t either. But, because of the excitement each has generated over the years—the “War on the Shore” and all that other bollocks—it has become something it was never meant to be. Take the whole team-qualifying thing. I think the captains should just pick 12 men each and forget the rankings. It is too hurtful for someone to play quite well, finish 11th and not get picked.”

That ability to verbalize what many others think but never say was perhaps Alliss’ biggest skill during his career as a commentator. Of course, he learned at the feet of the master, former Sunday Times columnist, Henry Longhurst, who was the first journalist to transition successfully into broadcasting.

“I refused to do anything different when commentating in America,” Alliss said. “I certainly refused to say, ‘back side.’ I remember one commentator saying, ‘And here is Faldo at 14, with wind gusting from his rear.’ I thought no, I’m not saying that. For me, it was always a bunker rather than a sand trap. I always tried to do what Longhurst told me: ‘Imagine you are sitting talking to a friend with one program between you.’ If there is nothing to say, it is better to do just that. The one thing I rarely do is take my eyes off the screen. Many people do, which I liken to someone turning to look at you as he drives the car.”

In addition to his TV commentary, Alliss authored 20 books on golf.

He could do it live, too. Towards the end of his life, Alliss toured Great Britain doing a one-man show that involved nothing more than him talking to the audience and answering questions. It was a rousing success, playing to packed houses all over the country.

All of which was good for the Alliss ego, to the point where he turned down an honor from Queen Elizabeth. An OBE (Order of the British Empire) was, he felt, beneath a man of his stature and achievement.

“Yes, I turned down an OBE,” he said. “‘Other Buggers Efforts’ I called it. I was asked if I would accept it for ‘services to golf.’ Which I thought was odd. Why should I get an OBE for doing my job? Now, if it were for all the work I have done with the wheelchair charity I have been involved with, we have raised about £7 million over the years, I could have seen the point. Even then, I just contribute my name and some time. Other people do all the real work. But not for bloody golf! So I said, ‘No.’

“If I was offered a knighthood, I think I would accept. I’d have more fun with it than ‘Sir Nick Faldo’ seems to do. He has that on his golf bag for goodness sake. It would sound better if it was ‘Sir Nicholas Faldo’ but once a Nick, always a Nick.”

David Cannon/Getty Images
Peter Alliss at home with his wife Jackie and their 12 Weimaraner puppies in 2016.

Still, within it all there was a healthy dose of perspective. Life wasn’t always kind to Alliss and his wife, Jackie.

“Our daughter, Victoria, died when she was 10 years old,” he said. “She was very severely handicapped, having no central nervous system. She looked like a doll and hardly made a sound. That changed me. I used to get upset by little things and wonder why someone didn’t say hello for example. But, having had Victoria, I realised that the person who walks past without speaking might have problems I don’t know about. So all those things I used to worry about were eliminated from my life.”

And through his nearly four score years and 10, through the good, the bad and everything else in-between, Alliss was never above a bit of self-deprecation.

“I have no other talents really,” he once said. “I’ve only read about 10 books in my life. My father used to play the guitar and I played the drums until I was about 17. I dreamed of having a little band.”

Maybe in the next life. RIP.

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By Alex Myers
Most golf fans woke up on Thursday morning excited to finally be able to watch the first major of the year. Many wound up frustrated when they learned early-round coverage of the PGA Championship wasn’t anywhere to be found on TV.

Watching streaming coverage during golf tournaments has certainly become more common in recent years, but major championships—other than the Masters—usually expand their TV windows. Not the 2020 PGA. The first six hours on both Thursday and Friday—along with the first two hours on both Saturday and Sunday—will be available only online. And the location proved to be the bigger point of contention.

With ESPN beginning its 11-year deal with the PGA, the network used its subscription streaming platform, ESPN+, for those early windows. That meant not only did fans have to find it, but in most cases, they had to pay extra for it. You didn’t expect to miss TNT having PGA broadcast rights, did you?

Of course, this wasn’t some last-minute decision. And golf fans were warned about the situation before the tournament started, including with our PGA viewers’ guide. But it still had people scrambling as much as the world’s best golfers at TPC Harding Park.

And they were not happy—especially since Tiger Woods’ first round was played in that early streaming window. Here’s a sampling of some of the reactions on Twitter:

By the way… @espn plus is a joke. Hurting that bad for money? Maybe instead of playing sport center 10 times in a row in the morning you should AIR a PGA MAJOR!

— Gimmie Bets (@GimmieBets) August 6, 2020

The PGA Championship is actually on ESPN plus today and not a regular channel? Like, the first major in over a year isn’t on cable tv is what I’m seeing? pic.twitter.com/oi1qAipefm

— TinCupDeHaven (@ChrisDeHaven11) August 6, 2020

Screw @espn ??& their stupid #ESPNPLUS for trying to nickel & dime golf fans . Charging for early round coverage of the #PGAChampionship !

Especially when many notables had early tee times .@PGATOUR , @PGAChampionship

— Moguls Mattt (@MatttMogul) August 6, 2020

@espn should be ashamed of themselves to force Americans to pay to watch first 6 hours of @PGAChampionship …#espnplus finally major championship golf and there are a bunch of people going to miss #tigerwoods and many more first round. @espn has been on my shit list already ?

— Derek Reed (@dtraindaddy) August 6, 2020

First MAJOR of 2020, during a pandemic, and TIGER ? is on the course (currently -2) and I have to pay @ESPNPlus to watch? Come on @PGAChampionship be better #PGAChampionship

— t i m Ξ s (@TimSavolainen) August 6, 2020

@PGATOUR and @espn you are garbage for putting this on espn plus we shouldnt have to go through that … for 2 rounds of golf you wanna get in my pockets gtfoh !!! pic.twitter.com/osrXJOVWnx

— AndreSportsFan (@AndreSportsFan) August 6, 2020

To be fair, the coverage—once you bought it and found it—led by Scott Van Pelt and with limited interruptions was very good and plenty praised it on Twitter as well. And ESPN did cut into SportsCenter to show some of the action. But we’re guessing the network also achieved its goal of adding a lot of new subscribers to ESPN+. After all, golf fans have been waiting a long time to watch a major championship again.

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By Ryan Herrington
The legend of Rory McIlroy and his Peloton prowess has grown rapidly in the last few months, his output during training rides (specifically registering 955 kilojoules in one 45-minute session) causing a stir among Peloton junkies. But it was a different golfer who impressed on the bike on Saturday when Peloton and ESPN held its first Pro-Athlete All-Star race.

Morgan Pressel, the 15-year LPGA veteran, competed in the women’s ride and finished second among the eight participants. Pressel’s total output of 226 kilojoules trailed only Olympic middle-distance runner Colleen Quigley (348) and outpaced athletes from the soccer, tennis, basketball and gymnastics worlds.

What an electric ride from all of our female athletes! Congratulations to Colleen Quigley with a commanding victory representing Oregon and USA Track & Field. pic.twitter.com/ZncSxXmmPp

— Peloton (@onepeloton) May 30, 2020

The competition involved a 20-minute ride led by celebrity Peloton trainer Robin Arzon to help the Food Bank of New York City.

In the men’s division, McIlroy was one of three PGA Tour pros in the eight-person race, joined by Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas. But the World’s No. 1 ranked golfer could do no better than fourth in the competition, accumulating 351 kj. Swimmer Matt Grevers, a four-time Olympic medalist, finished first (417), followed by Boston Celtic All-Star Gordon Hayward (397) and former NFL defensive tackle turned broadcaster Booger McFarland (384).

Watson meanwhile finished sixth (275) and Thomas finished in last place (239).

Another gold for the shelf ? pic.twitter.com/H1cZJHL1bp

— Peloton (@onepeloton) May 30, 2020

That McIlroy couldn’t grow his legend on the bike might be seen as disappointing, but he was also a bit of a marked man for Saturday’s competition.

“Since I can’t beat Rory McIlroy on the golf course, my one goal for today is to prove that golfers aren’t athletes,” McFarland said ahead of the race, ultimately accomplishing the task.

Naturally, the trash talk wasn’t limited to before the race. Said Grevers during the competition: “I was trying to listen to [instructor] Alex [Toussaint] and the cues but I think Bubba’s breathing too hard for me to hear anything so I just kind of went.”

By the end of the men’s and women’s competitions, the NYC Food Bank had seen more than 1,000,000 meals donated as the 16 bikers accumulated 4,312 kj combined, far exceeding the 3,000 point goal.

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By Ryan Herrington
Had the coronavirus not put a halt to professional golf, officials with the PGA of America would be putting the finishing touches on TPC Harding Park in anticipation of holding the PGA Championship this week in San Francisco. Instead, golf fans, like with the Masters a month ago, will once more be left to fill the major championship void.

The good news: ESPN and CBS will be there to help. The official broadcasters for the 2020 PGA, which has been rescheduled for Aug. 6-9, will be re-airing past telecasts of that PGA Championship throughout the week in much the same way they did a month ago during the Masters.

On Thursday (May 14), ESPN will show from noon to 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2, the final round of the 2017 PGA, where Justin Thomas won his first major title at Quail Hollow Club. Immediately after, ESPN2 with air the final round of the 2014 PGA at Valhalla, where Rory McIlroy raced darkness to win his second PGA title and fourth career major.

ESPN comes back on ESPN2 with two more PGA rebroadcast on Friday (May 15). At 7 p.m., is the re-airing of the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah and the infamous clash between a 23-year-old Tiger Woods and a 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. At 9:30 p.m., fans can see the 2019 PGA, with Brooks Koepka holding on to win at Bethpage Black.

Over the weekend, CBS picks up with coverage. On Saturday, (May 16), the network will show from 2:30-6 p.m. EDT the final round of the 2018 PGA, where Brooks Koepka outlasted Tiger Woods among others to win the Wanamaker Trophy at the Bellerive in St. Louis. Then on Sunday (May 17), CBS will re-broadcast from 3-6 p.m. EDT the final round of the 2000 PGA, in which Woods held off journeyman Bob May in a playoff at Valhalla Golf Club to win his third straight major title.

If the re-airing of final rounds doesn’t satisfy fans’ hunger for PGA Championship coverage, CBS Sports Network and the Golf Channel will the PGA Championship official highlight videos throughout the week. Each channel will show several of the recent. On Wednesday (May 13), Golf Channel will air the highlight videos from 1945, 1962, 1969, 1972 culminating with a rebroadcast of the final round of the 1974 PGA, where Lee Trevino beats Jack Nicklaus at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C.

On Thursday (May 14) you can see rare highlights of the 1974, 1975 1976 and 1980 championships.

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By Alex Myers
Michelle Wie West is expecting the birth of her first child this summer. But now she’s also thinking about a return to the golf course shortly after.

The LPGA star is eying the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open as a possibility for her first tournament back. The event originally scheduled for June has been moved to Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Logistically, it opened my eyes and I was like, ‘Whoa, like maybe it could happen,’” Wie West told ESPN. “I’m not making a decision right now, but my ears definitely perked up when I heard that the U.S. Open is going to be in December. Suddenly, it’s something that seriously needs to be discussed.”

It’s been nearly a year since Wie, 30, last played in an LPGA event at the 2019 KPMG PGA. Since then, she married Golden State Warriors executive Jonnie West, joined both the Golf Channel and CBS as a golf analyst, and of course, announced her pregnancy. But the latter has the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champ particularly eager to play again.

“The motivation to come back is even stronger because I’m having a girl,” Wie said in January. “I really want her to see me play. I want her to see me be a strong woman. That’s really important to me. The motivation to come back and play is definitely there.”

RELATED: What will the LPGA look like when it comes back?

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By Brian Wacker
ESPN’s documentary, “The Last Dance,” on Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls has delivered a trove of fun and insightful stories. His competitiveness—and love of golf, of course—are well documented and have been prevalent elements throughout the series.

Which brings us to one particularly memorable round that Brooks Koepka played with his Airness in South Florida. Appearing on Monday night’s edition of “SportsCenter” with Scott Van Pelt, the four-time major champion recounted the day.

“I was 1 up going to 17 tee,” Koepka said. “We’d been jawing all day and we have like a 40-yard walk back to the 17th tee and he hasn’t said much the last couple of holes. I said something like, ‘I’ve got you right where I want you.’”

Or not. Koepka quickly learned that it’s best not to trash talk Jordan, no matter the playing surface.

“He just tees the ball up, takes his practice swing and looks at me. ‘It’s the fourth quarter, baby, I don’t lose,’” Koepka recalled.

You can guess what happened next.

Jordan went on to win the 17th and 18th holes and won the match, according to Koepka.

Lesson learned.

“It’s probably the last time I’ve smack-talked him,” Koepka said. “I have not played him since, but hopefully we’ll tee it up again soon.”

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By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced Monday a new nine-year media agreement with CBS Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN.

The long-awaited deal, running from 2022 through 2030, essentially maintains the status quo in the television arena. CBS will average 19 events per year through the lifespan of the contract while NBC will get eight events in addition to airing early round and early weekend coverage on its Golf Channel platform. As was previously reported, the networks will alternate FedEx Cup Playoff coverage, with NBC assuming command in 2022.

On the digital/streaming front, ESPN has assumed the Tour’s direct-to-consumer rights within the United States, which will be offered on ESPN+. As a result of the deal, PGA Tour Live, the Tour’s subscription video service, will live exclusively on ESPN+ beginning in 2022. (Discovery owns the streaming rights to the PGA Tour outside the United States through 2030; GOLFTV and Golf Digest are both a part of Discovery.)

Additionally, the Tour secured a rights agreement for the LPGA Tour. The women’s circuit will see its programming continue on the Golf Channel along with added exposure on NBC and CBS beyond its current arrangement of majors, which are already on the networks.

As part of the deal, the Tour is assuming new responsibilities on production and technical infrastructure. Though CBS and NBC will still use their own teams in their respective broadcasts, the Tour’s participation will allow it more efficiently aggregate, distribute and develop content for its various platforms worldwide, according to the Tour.

“Following a comprehensive process of studying the market, talking to all interested parties and analyzing our various options, we’re excited to announce that we have entered into new agreements with our existing partners ViacomCBS and Comcast/NBC Sports Group, while establishing a new long-term relationship with Disney and ESPN+,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a press release. “We were extremely pleased with the interest we received from the market—both with incumbents and other media companies—and are excited that our current partners shared our vision for the future, and we are equally excited to be back in business with Disney and ESPN+.

“These new deals will be a major win for our fans, bringing an elevated commitment from all three partners to help us expand and innovate our content and its delivery.”

While financial terms of the deal were not released, the New York Times and Variety report an increase of at least 60 percent from media companies over the previous deal, which was claimed to be valued at $400 million. SportsBusiness Journal reported in December that the pending deal could be worth as much as $700 million. PGA Tour announces nine-year media deals with CBS, NBC and ESPN

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Brooks stars in not one, but two new ESPN commercials that are part of a collection of 12 new spots for the iconic—and we don’t use that word lightly—This is SportsCenter franchise. And the World No. 1 shows off some pretty good acting chops.

First, there’s “The Putter Wipe” in which Koepka is watched closely by SportsCenter anchors Matt Barrie and Elle Duncan as he attempts to cut a PB&J sandwich:

Apparently, Koepka’s cuts off the tee are more accurate. You also might notice that’s not Brooks’ normal caddie, Ricky Elliott. But don’t worry, he hasn’t ditched the Northern Ireland looper who has helped lead him to four major titles. That’s actually a childhood friend of Koepka’s named Dan Gambill.

The next ad features Koepka in some kind of putting contest with Duncan. But after he marks his ball on the ESPN office carpet, Barrie picks up the change and finishes buying a soda from the vending machine:

Love it.

Only time will tell if either of these will end up in the pantheon of This is SportsCenter commercials, but Brooks shouldn’t be offended if they don’t. For The Win ranked the top 25 a couple years ago, and between the Manning brothers fighting in an ESPN hallway in front of their dad, LeBron James trying to fix a copier paper jam, and of course, Charlie Steiner wearing war paint in the famed “Y2K” spot, a high bar has been set. Oh, man, these are so good. Don’t mind me. . . Be back in a few hours. . .

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By Joel Beall
At times, Tiger Woods’ 2018 was so unbelievable you would have thought it came from a screenplay. While his story was very much real, it’s now getting silver-screen treatment.

ESPN announced on Wednesday that is producing a film on Woods’ historic comeback season, set to air on December 30, Woods’ 43rd birthday.

“Tiger Woods: Return of the Roar” will chronicle the highs and lows of last campaign, starting with his return to competitive golf at the 2017 Hero World Challenge and culminating with his 80th career tour win at East Lake.

“With new, never-before-seen content, including multiple interviews with Woods, viewers will get behind-the-scenes access to PGA TOUR events central to Woods’ return, including the Valspar Championship and the Tour Championship, featuring stylized off-speed cameras and inside-the-ropes viewpoints,” an ESPN press release said. “The film also will touch upon Woods’ growing role as a leader and mentor on the PGA Tour, highlighting his role as captain’s assistant at the 2017 Presidents Cup and the announcement made in March that he will captain the U.S. Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia.”

ESPN says the documentary will feature 60 interviews with PGA Tour players and professional athletes to give context on perspective on Tiger’s comeback. There were also be a feature with Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava on what he saw on the bag this season.

The film is directed by PGA Tour Entertainment in conjunction with ESPN. Following the movie’s release, it will stream internationally on GOLFTV.

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