The inaugural TGL finals got underway on Monday night as Atlanta Drive GC and New York Golf Club met for the first match in a best-of-three series. When the two teams will reconvene at the SoFi Center on Tuesday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, it will be the Drive holding a 1-0 advantage after a wild back-and-forth battle that stands out as the best match of the inaugural TGL season.
Both teams made it to the finals thanks, in part, to strong hammer strategy, and that played out Monday during the match. Atlanta drew first blood going up 1-0 on the 2nd hole after New York ran a birdie chip 10 feet by the hole, while the Drive had just 4 feet for their par. New York declined the hammer, opting for the early 1-point deficit rather than risking falling behind by two.
Atlanta doubled its lead on the 4th hole thanks to a friendly bounce after Billy Horschel nearly put a 3 iron in the hazard from 230 yards out only to clear it by a foot and get a friendly forward bounce to 9 feet away for eagle (which Patrick Cantlay rolled into the cup).
New York got on the board on the 5th hole when Rickie Fowler stuffed his tee shot on the par 3 to just a few feet, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with 10 holes to play.
The match was tied 2-2 on the 6th after Horschel skulled a chip across the green with New York waiting to putt for birdie; Atlanta conceded the hole after not making the par chip. The two teams tied the final three holes of triples from there, sending it to singles knotted at 2-2.
New York drew first blood in singles thanks to an eagle from Cameron Young as he hit a 190-mph bomb off the tee to set up an iron into the par 5 that he stuffed 9 feet from the pin from 220 yards out. Justin Thomas nearly holed out his eagle chip but had 4 feet left for birdie, and Atlanta accepted the hammer thrown by New York before Young’s putt, which he poured in to give NYGC a 4-2 advantage.
Atlanta answered back on the next hole between Horschel and Rickie Fowler. Both found the green, but Fowler missed his putt on the low side, prompting Horschel and Atlanta to throw a hammer of their own. New York accepted, and Horschel poured in the 11 footer to bring the match all square again at 4-4.
After Cantlay and Xander Schauffele tied the 12th, Thomas and Young had short-game woes on the 13th, but Young got the better of Thomas for the second time in singles to push New York back in front 5-4. The hole also included a bit of hammer controversy after Schauffele threw it as Thomas was getting set for his putt, which was deemed too late but did possibly ice Thomas into missing his try.
Just like before, Horschel got Atlanta right back to a tie after stuffing his tee shot on the 14th. New York refused Atlanta’s hammer despite Fowler being 10 feet away for birdie himself, sending it to the final hole of the match tied at 5-5.
Both Schauffele and Cantlay missed the green in two and hit their chips to 6 feet, 6 inches from the hole. Cantlay went first and applied the pressure by pouring his putt in, which meant Schauffele needed to make his to send it to overtime. Instead, he left it on the right edge and got a hard lip-out to give the Drive a 1-0 series lead.
It was a genuinely thrilling match as Horschel remains the star of the TGL season thus far with his combination of theatrics on the green and incredible shot-making on the big screen.
New York will have to regroup for Tuesday night’s finale, a potential double-headerin the best-of-three series. The second match of the series will be played at 7 p.m. ET with a third scheduled to start at 9 p.m., if necessary.
If NYGC is going to contend, it may need to reconsider its conservative hammer strategy. The decision not to let Fowler putt on the 14th and try to maintain a lead going to the last came back to bite New York. Atlanta took advantage of a more aggressive strategy with Horschel having the Drive throw a hammer for his 11 footer that he poured in. That was the difference in the match, and now that New York has to win the next two, it could certainly be more aggressive trying to put points on the board.
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