Down 3-0 with four holes to play, Atlanta Drive GC ripped off an epic comeback capped by a 17-foot Billy Horschel birdie putt to win Match 2 of the Finals Series and capture the SoFi Cup in a 4-3 victory over New York Golf Club. While the best-of-three Finals Series appeared to be headed to a decisive Match 3, Atlanta remained in the hunt through 11 holes having saved all three Hammers to that point. Atlanta cut the deficit to 3-2 by putting the Hammer in play on holes No. 12 and 13, both of which were declined by New York. New York accepted the third Hammer throw on No. 14, where Horschel was standing over a 17-footer for birdie while Rickie Fowler was in a greenside bunker needing to get up-and-down to save par. Figuring the odds of Fowler getting up-and-down were better than Horschel making the putt to win the hole, New York accepted to make the hole worth two points. Horschel made them pay, stepping up to the moment like he’s done all season with a winding putt and an
ensuing celebration that will add to his TGL highlight reel. “This is my … house!,” Horschel shouted, dropping his putter and throwing his hat before being mobbed by Atlanta teammates Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.

The two-point swing gave Atlanta a 4-3 lead entering the final hole, which was also worth two points when New York threw the Hammer prior to Cantlay and Cameron Young hitting their tee shots. Knowing he likely needed to get up-and-down to avoid Match 3, Cantlay chipped it inside three feet to ice the victory.

“I figured if we made birdie we’d have a good chance at closing it out,” Cantlay said. “I like being in that spot, the anchor spot. …And it’s no surprise (Horschel) made another putt worth two points.” Horschel also helped spark a comeback victory with Atlanta trailing 4-2 Monday night in Match 1, draining an 11-foot birdie putt to tie it up and set the tone for an eventual 6-5 victory. “I think it’s the same story,” Young said. “The short game in here is what wins you matches and unfortunately we just didn’t have anything go in tonight.” New York began the year 0-2 before emerging as one of the top teams in the second half of the season, upsetting No. 1 seed Los Angeles Golf Club in the Semifinals to get to the Finals Series.
Atlanta finishes the year with a 7-1 record and was the most-consistent team all season at SoFi Center, where team owner Arthur Blank hoisted the SoFi Cup following Tuesday’s match before passing it down the line to Cantlay, Horschel, Thomas and Lucas Glover.

“It’s completely exceeded my expectations,” Thomas said of the inaugural season of TGL. “It’s been a blast. The competitiveness once the playoffs got here. (New York), I’m sure they would say the same, they were different last night. Not chippy, but it was competitive. We wanted to win. And, yeah … Billy does Billy things.”

Horschel’s match and season-championship-clinching putt was his longest-made putt of the TGL season at 17′ 10″. Horschel finished the season with the most Singles Holes Won (8) and the Most Singles Points (13). The 13 points is six more points than the next best player. No previous match had reached the 4th hole without at least one point being scored. The first point of the match came on hole 7 – Oh Chute – when Schauffele hit his tee shot to 4′ 9″ and ATL found a greenside bunker and couldn’t get up and down, eventually conceeding the hole as NY took a 1-0 lead.
On the next hole, the driveable par-4 Bluebonnet, Fowler hit his drive to 63 feet from the green. Young chipped to 15 inches and NY threw the Hammer with ATL facing an 11′ 4″ putt. ATL declined and NY extended its lead to 2-0.

Young hit his drive 359.7 yards on the 6th hole – Alpine, matching his longest drive of the season on the same hole. Wyndham Clark of BAY had the longest drive in TGL this season with 360.3 yards at Alpine. Young also hit the longest drive of the season on the 9th hole – Quick Draw – 346 yards.

Entering the Final Series, Thomas was undefeated in Singles with a 5-0-3 record. Thomas lost both Singles holes on Monday and started Tuesday’s Singles with a loss to Xander on the 10th hole – Serpent as NY took a 3-0 lead. Stepping to the 12th par-3 Craic On down 3-0 and with Young already at 13′ 0″ from the hole, Cantlay hit his tee shot to 4′ 7″. ATL threw the Hammer which NY declined and ATL cut NY’s lead to 3-1. Cantlay already holds the closest-to-thepin this season on Craic On at 3′ 8″.

ATL continues to use the Hammer well. On the 13th hole – Straight Up, Schauffele hit his approach in the greenside bunker. With Thomas sitting 147 yards away, ATL threw the Hammer and NY declined, opting to lose another point to cut the lead to 3-2.

Tiger Woods was the only player to receive a shot-clock violation in TGL this season.