After Patrick Cantlay drained a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole to give Atlanta its sixth point of the match, New York’s Xander Schauffele faced a birdie try from a similar distance to force overtime in Game 1 of TGL’s SoFi Cup finals.
TGL produces best match yet, as Atlanta Drive has one hand on the SoFi Cup trophy
Game 1 of the SoFi Cup Finals produced thrilling theater.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Schauffele studied it closely and figured his putt would move slightly to his right. Once he had his line, the World No. 3 stepped up and fired away. His ball was tracking, but it darted right at the very last second and lipped out of the hole. Like that, Atlanta won a thrilling match — TGL’s best yet — and took a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three SoFi Cup finals.
But at least Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, and Cameron Young have a chance to bounce back Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
“This was probably one of the more serious matches we’ve played,” Schauffele said.
“You can tell everyone was trying to win, and them being up one is a big advantage, but in my eyes, and I’m sure these boys and our team, we lost our first two matches, so this technically is something that we’ve already faced this exact season. It’ll be a fun go [on Tuesday].”
The winning team will go home with $9 million in their pockets, and you could tell that this match differed from the others thus far. There was a high level of intensity, with no one invoking more emotion than Atlanta’s Billy Horschel, who celebrated like he had just won the U.S. Open on several occasions.
“I love going head-to-head with somebody,” Horschel said.
“It’s who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the victory.”
The tide of the match turned in Atlanta’s favor on the 11th hole, thanks to Horschel. After sticking his third shot on this par-5 to 12 feet away, Horschel faced a terrific birdie opportunity. Meanwhile, Fowler, whose New York team held a 4-to-2 lead, had an 18-footer for birdie. After Fowler missed, Atlanta wisely employed the hammer, making Horschel’s try worth double. Knowing Horschel had less than a 50-50 chance of holing his putt, New York decided to accept it. Had they declined, Atlanta would have received one point. But New York took their chances at Horschel missing and not gaining any points.
The move backfired.
Horschel made them pay, draining a putt and fist-pumping like no one else in TGL can.
“I think Billy making that putt when the hammer was down. It ultimately still came down to making putts,” said Patrick Cantlay when asked what the pivotal point of the match was.
“So Billy making that putt was really, I think, the deciding point in the match tonight.”
And now Atlanta and New York get to run it back again on Tuesday night.
If New York wins the second match, an all-for-nothing rubber match will begin immediately after. Hopefully, Tuesday’s duel lives up to Monday night’s billing, and if it does, it will cap off a successful inaugural season for golf’s newest venture.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
