The 2026 LPGA season kicks off this week with the Tournament of Champions, and Nelly Korda is preparing for another run at the No. 1 rankings this year. But it’s Korda’s thoughts on another women’s golf league, the WTGL, that are causing a stir this week.
In comments to Golfweek’s Beth Ann NicholsKorda expressed her “mixed feelings” about the new women’s version of TGL and strongly criticized TGL’s decision to put women in a separate league.
Korda hits TGL for leaving LPGA golfers out
In early January, TMRW Sports, the company founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that operates TGL, announced the creation of a new women-only TGL league, the WTGL.
The WTGL will feature stars from the LPGA Tour playing the same technology-infused simulator golf that TGL debuted last year at the SoFi Center in Florida. TMRW Sports, LPGA and many others heralded the inclusion of female golfers.
But Korda offered a contrasting perspective this week. The former world number 1’s main issue with the WTGL news concerns the exclusion of women.
In an interview with Nichols While preparing for the LPGA season, Korda characterized the decision to create the WTGL, rather than adding LPGA professionals to the existing TGL, as a “huge and incredible miss.”
“If I’m completely honest, I have mixed feelings about it, and I’m surprised no other girl has done that, or no one has really spoken out about it,” Korda told Nichols this week. “I think it is a huge and incredible mistake that we do not play alongside the men.”
She went on to argue that having men and women competing together would have been “revolutionary” in terms of the growth of golf.
“There’s no better way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been, I think, the first time men and women were on the same playing field and playing for exactly the same money,” Korda said.
But Korda was quick to explain that while she wished women would be included in the TGL, the creation of the WTGL is still a positive development for women’s golf.
“I also think it’s great that we have this opportunity, so those are my mixed feelings,” Korda said. “Like, I don’t think there’s a downside. I just think it would have been even greater to have them both together.”
First WTGL players announced, Nelly Korda missing
On January 19, TMRW Sports announced the first wave of LPGA stars who have committed to the inaugural WTGL season, tentatively scheduled for the winter of 2026-27.
The initial announcement featured six players, including The world No. 1 And half of the woman as the woman’s word:who took over Korda’s first place in the world rankings in 2025. LPGA veteran and semi-retired professional Lexi Thompson was also revealed as a WTGL competitor, such as it was Lydia, Charley Hull And Brooke Henderson. But Korda, the most famous women’s golfer in the world, was not there.
This week young LPGA stars Rose Zhang And Lottie Woadboth former winners of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, also joined the WTGL. But still no Korda.
Nichols asked Korda for her thoughts on playing the WTGL, and while Korda didn’t commit to participating, she did say she was considering it.
“I’m still weighing the time commitment. I just haven’t really thought about it much because I’ve really been focused on getting ready for this season. I think logistically they’re still figuring out some things, so I’ll just be weighing my options for the foreseeable future,” Korda said.
You can read Korda’s full commentary in Beth Ann Nichols’ story here.
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