Atlanta Drive beats New York Golf Club on last hole to take TGL Finals Series opener

USA Today

25-03-2025

Atlanta Drive beats New York Golf Club on last hole to take TGL Finals Series opener
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Celebrities attending Tiger Woods TGL golf matches at SoFi Center
While most fans attending TGL golf matches since January are ordinary people, there has been no lack of big-named celebrities at SoFi Center.
Atlanta Drive GC defeated New York Golf Club 6-5 in the first match of the TGL Finals Series.
Patrick Cantlay secured the winning point for Atlanta against Xander Schauffele on the final hole.
The two teams will face off again on Tuesday for the second match of the series.
The winner of the TGL Finals will receive a $9 million prize.
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Atlanta Drive GC is one win away from the inaugural SoFi Cup and a $9 million-dollar grand prize.
Atlanta defeated New York 6-5 on Monday night in the first match of the best-of-three TGL Finals Series at the SoFi Center. Patrick Cantlay secured the winning point against Xander Schauffele on the final singles hole after Schauffele's tying putt lipped out of the cup.
It was a thrilling late night finish that creeped into Monday's final hour after a delayed broadcast start.
"I think all of us are a little amped up right now but also ready to go to sleep," Atlanta's Justin Thomas said.
Tied 2-2 after nine holes of triples, New York and Atlanta traded Hammer wins, first by New York's Cam Young and then by Atlanta's Billy Horschel, on the first two holes of singles.
Horschel's win provided one of the night's most dramatic moments as he let out a roar and first pump toward a rowdy pro-New York crowd after burying an 11-foot putt. Both teams considered it a turning point in the post-match presser.
"Cam did a lot of the dirty work to win us two points, which is a hard thing to do against them, and for us to give it right back, that's probably my biggest regret was accepting that hammer where Billy made that putt," Schauffele said.
Young outscrambled Justin Thomas on hole No. 13 to restore New York's 5-4 advantage but Atlanta again recovered on No. 14 with a tremendous tee shot into a par-3 by Horschel. New York declined Atlanta's Hammer throw to send it to the final hole tied.
Atlanta and New York will square off once again on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the second match of the TGL Finals Series. A third match will be played at 9 p.m. if necessary.
More: Will Tiger Woods be at SoFi Center for TGL's Finals Series?
Hole-by-hole results
Triples
No. 1: Hole tied
No. 2: Atlanta wins (1-0)
No. 3: Hole tied (1-0)
No. 4: Atlanta wins (2-0)
No. 5: New York wins (2-1, ATL)
No. 6: New York wins (2-2)
No. 7: Hole tied (2-2)
No. 8: Hole tied (2-2)
No. 9: Hole tied (2-2)
Singles
No. 10: Cam Young def. Justin Thomas* (NY, 4-2)
No. 11: Billy Horschel def. Richie Fowler* (4-4)
No. 12: Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay tied (4-4)
No. 13: Cam Young def. Justin Thomas (5-4 NY)
No. 14: Billy Horschel def. Rickie Fowler (5-5)
No. 15: Patrick Cantlay def. Xander Schauffele (6-5, ATL)
*Hammer point multiplier
TGL payouts
First place: $9 million
Second place: $4.5 million
Third place: $2.25 million [Los Angeles GC]
Fourth place: $2 million [The Bay GC]
Fifth place: $1.75 million [Jupiter Links}
Sixth place: $1.5 million [Boston Common]
TGL delayed
The first hole of TGL's Finals Series Match 1 was delayed by more than 20 minutes as ESPN concluded its coverage of the Women's NCAA Tournament game between North Carolina and West Virginia.
TGL teed off at 9:25 p.m. ET.
TGL finals schedule
Match 2: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, 7 p.m. Match 3: Tuesday, 9 p.m. (if necessary)
TGL teams, players
Atlanta Drive GC
Justin Thomas
Billy Horschel
Patrick Cantlay
Lucas Glover
Boston Common
Rory McIlroy
Adam Scott
Keegan Bradley
Hideki Matsuyama
Los Angeles GC
Collin Morikawa
Justin Rose
Sahith Theegala
Tommy Fleetwood
Jupiter Links GC
Tiger Woods
Tom Kim
Kevin Kisner
Max Homa
New York Golf Club
Rickie Fowler
Xander Schauffele
Matt Fitzpatrick
Cameron Young
The Bay GC
Ludvig Aberg
Shane Lowry
Min Woo Lee
Wyndham Clark
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [e-mail].