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Stats expert and WTGL contributor Justin Ray dives deeper into three key matchups he's excited to watch in the inaugural season.
With opening day on Sunday, Nov. 8 inching closer, the official schedule for the inaugural season of WTGL is live. Five teams will battle in SoFi Center to become the first ever champions, with the Finals set for Tuesday, Dec. 22 and Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Each team will have the opportunity to face the other four squads once during the regular season. This round-robin setup provides us with numerous intriguing storylines, with the sport’s biggest names and brightest young stars facing off in an exciting team golf format. The top four teams in the standings will then advance to the postseason.
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Let’s take a closer look at three matchups that have my attention...
LAGC vs New York Golf Club
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 8
- Network: ESPN
We have a special matchup on tap for opening day because both the LAGC and NYGC rosters are loaded with superstar veterans. LPGA Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko (NYGC), for one. Trailblazing legend Michelle Wie West (LAGC), to name another. And the likes of Linn Grant (NYGC), Rose Zhang (NYGC), Danielle Kang (NYGC) and Alison Lee (LAGC) have combined to make 13 Solheim Cup appearances to date in their collective careers.
But two other names might steal the show in this matchup. Before making her professional debut last month, Kiara Romero spent 56 weeks as the number one ranked women’s amateur in the world. Just 20 years old, the University of Oregon product is a four-time Rolex junior All-American and the winner of the 2023 United States Girls’ Junior. She earned low amateur honors earlier this season at the United States Open, finishing in a tie for sixth place. She is a name to know.
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Also just 20 years old, New York GC’s Yana Wilson is already a winner on the LPGA Tour. Earlier this season, she teamed up with fellow LPGA pro Gina Kim to win the Dow Championship, the annual two-player team showdown held in Michigan. She’s also a multiple-time winner on the Epson Tour – the LPGA’s developmental circuit – picking up a pair of wins in the 2025 season.
The bright lights of SoFi Center won’t be too much for either of these prodigies to handle. I can't wait to see them potentially go head-to-head.
Atlanta Drive vs Boston Common Golf
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 24
- Network: ION
The Solheim Cup pits the top 12 American players against the best the Europeans have to offer. When Atlanta Drive and Boston Common Golf meet, stalwarts of that biennial international competition will shift from teammates to rivals.
Charley Hull (Atlanta Drive GC) teamed up with Lottie Woad (Boston Common Golf) in each of the first four sessions of the Solheim Cup this month at Bernardus in The Netherlands. Hull and Céline Boutier (also of Boston Common Golf) have been teammates on each of the last five European Solheim Cup teams. On the American side, Andrea Lee (Atlanta Drive) and Megan Khang (Boston Common Golf) have played together on each of the last three American Solheim Cup squads.
This matchup between Atlanta Drive and Boston CG also promises to feature elite ball-striking talent. Lee leads the LPGA Tour in fairways hit this season at a sparkling rate of 82.3%. Her ADGC teammate Hull is in the top-20 on Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green for the third consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Megan Khang is among the top 10 on the LPGA Tour in 2026 in average proximity to the hole on approach shots from 125 to 150 yards. Khang has been among the best iron players in the game for years. Her Boston Common Golf teammate Woad ranks in the top 10 in both greens in regulation (72.6%, 5th) and strokes gained tee-to-green (+1.25 per round, 10th). This is a stacked squad.
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Both teams promise to provide plenty of compelling action inside SoFi Center this season. It's a perfect early appetizer for Thanksgiving when they meet on Tuesday, Nov. 24 on ION.
New York Golf Club vs Motor City
- Date: Tuesday, Dec. 1
- Network: ION
On paper, there might not be a stronger WTGL roster entering this season than Motor City Golf Club. Two former world number ones – Jeeno Thitikul and Ronni Yin – are joined by a pair of players who have been awfully close to earning that distinction in their careers in Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson, with talented three-time Olympian Albane Valenzuela rounding out the roster. As a unit, Motor City has totaled five victories, 22 top-three finishes and 56 top-ten results in major championships.
We already mentioned the deep, accomplished careers among the roster of NYGC. Ko, of course, headlines the group as a three-time major winner and 23-time victor on the LPGA Tour. Her teammate Zhang has a long list of accolades of her own: 146 weeks atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking, most ever in the women’s game, to start. Zhang won her first start as a professional on the LPGA Tour at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open, the first to do that in more than 70 years. And she’s already played for three United States Solheim Cup teams, including earlier this month in The Netherlands.
The list of talented players filling WTGL rosters is extensive. Seeing these teams in action later this year at SoFi Center will be appointment viewing.