PALM BEACH — Xander Schauffele and Adam Scott headline four surprise departures from TGL ahead of season three of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's tech-infused league, which begins on 27 December. The exits come as the competition expands from six to seven teams with the addition of Motor City Golf Club and increases roster sizes from four to five players, lifting total places from 24 to 35.
Two-time major winner Schauffele leaves New York Golf Club after two seasons with the franchise. The 2024 PGA Championship and Open winner helped New York reach the inaugural SoFi Cup Finals in 2025, where they lost to Atlanta Drive GC, before a frustrating second campaign in which he missed much of the season through injury as New York finished at the foot of the standings. Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, departs McIlroy's Boston Common Golf after a contrasting two-year run that saw the team finish bottom of the standings in 2025 before reaching the semi-finals in 2026, where they lost to Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club.
The other major winner to exit is 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover, who had been with Atlanta Drive GC, while Kevin Kisner leaves Jupiter Links Golf Club after featuring in the line-up for the first two seasons.
New York have filled Schauffele's vacancy with Ben Griffin and Alex Fitzpatrick, who joins brother Matt Fitzpatrick alongside Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young. Los Angeles Golf Club have added Ben James to a line-up containing Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose and Sahith Theegala, while Michael Brennan replaces Glover at Atlanta Drive GC alongside Patrick Cantlay, former alternate Chris Gotterup, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas. At Jupiter Links, Keith Mitchell replaces Kisner and teams up with Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia, who had been an alternate, while Boston Common Golf have promoted alternate Michael Thorbjornsen to a full-time spot.
Boston are also boosted by Shane Lowry, who becomes the first player to be traded in TGL after leaving The Bay Golf Club, with Keegan Bradley and Hideki Matsuyama retaining their places. The move follows Shane Lowry's switch to Boston Common Golf in the first ever TGL trade, which has seen The Bay add Open champion Ryan Fox and Blades Brown alongside Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Min Woo Lee. The new franchise, Motor City Golf Club, will be headed by five-time major winner Brooks Koepka a year after he left LIV Golf, joined by fellow newcomers Jackson Koivun, Bud Cauley, Jake Knapp and Si Woo Kim, taking the total number of debutants for season three to 12.