Could The TGL Be Delayed? Dramatic Drone Footage Shows The Full Extent Of Damage To Tiger Woods And Rory McIlroy's TGL Dome In Florida

Dramatic drone footage from the dome set to stage the TGL in January shows extensive damage that could yet delay the start of the event

Image of the damaged TGL arena dome
(Image credit: X @luckiestgolfer via @flushingitgolf)
Paul Higham
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Drone footage from the dome that is set to host Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL in January shows the full extent of what looks to be extensive damage to the site in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

A power cut at the site of the SoFi Center resulted in the partial deflation of the dome structure, which was then fully deflated by workers and will remain that way while they carry out repairs to the damage caused.

A statement from TMRW Sports, the Woods & McIlroy company behind TGL, said that there we no injuries and that none of the technology inside was damaged.

"The dome section has been further deflated by our crew and will remain down while they work to remedy the situation," read the statement. "There were no injuries, and no technology was impacted. Other work on site will continue."

Drone footage from the Palm Beach Post though shows that the damage looks pretty extensive to the arena, which is set to stage the hi-tech TGL starting on 9 January.

The dome, which will be used until the TGL's Sofi Center is completed, is around 250,000 square feet and 75 feet high. Meanwhile, the TGL stadium will feature real grass and a simulator screen 20x bigger than normal simulators, while it will also have a capacity for around 2,000 spectators.

There could now be question marks over whether the dome will be ready for the TGL to start in January, given how bad the damage looks.

TMRW Sports says it's still too early to tell if completion will be delayed, but the damage to the dome is not the first setback the TGL has faced during its preparations. 

One of its initial 24 players, Jon Rahm, has pulled out of its inaugural season, and, before this week’s DP World Tour Championship, he explained that the reason for it was because it was “more of a commitment than I expected at first.”

The last thing Woods and McIlroy would want is for the TGL to be delayed, so it will be all hands to the pump for their construction team to ensure the start goes as planned.

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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