Billy Horschel made a 37 1/2-foot eagle putt on the final hole to lift Atlanta Drive GC over New York Golf Club 6-4 in a stirring opening match of TGL’s second season Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
In a rematch of last year’s SoFi Cup Finals that saw Atlanta sweep New York, the Drive built a 4-1 lead only for New York to tie with three points over the next four holes.
The 15th and final hole, a par-5 called “Quick Draw,” saw team anchors Horschel and Xander Schauffele face off with the match on the line. Horschel reached the green in two, and Schauffele landed his second shot even closer than Horschel, inside 15 feet of the pin.
Horschel stepped up and drained a downhill putt that gently moved left to right. Schauffele could have tied the hole and forced overtime with his putt, but it trickled just right of the cup.
The second season of the indoor, simulated golf league features the same six teams and rosters as Season 1, but star Justin Thomas was not available for Atlanta after undergoing back surgery in November. Lucas Glover also did not play.
Chris Gotterup, making his debut as a one-match injury replacement for Atlanta, hit the first drive of the TGL season.
The match was just 1-0 New York through seven holes when Atlanta closed out “triples” with a surge. The Drive tied the match by winning No. 8 and then “threw the hammer” during the par-5 ninth hole, doubling its point value after Matt Fitzpatrick of England hit a wayward third shot for New York.
Horschel finished that hole with a 6-foot birdie for Atlanta to collect the two points.
The final six holes are head-to-head singles matches, and Gotterup put Atlanta ahead 4-1 by making his birdie at No. 10 after Cameron Young missed his.
But Fitzpatrick collected an easy point for New York when Canadian Corey Conners found water off the tee at No. 11 for Atlanta. Young then stuck his drive at the short par-4 13th hole to 24 feet and converted the eagle putt to beat Gotterup.
Finally, Fitzpatrick tied it up with a 22-foot birdie putt at the par-3 14th to beat Conners.
The second match of the new season comes Friday night when Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf faces Los Angeles Golf Club. After that, the league will play on three consecutive Tuesdays and a string of Mondays before concluding the regular season March 1-3. The four-team playoffs will be contested March 17 and 23-24.
