Atlanta Drive GC handed Los Angeles Golf Club its first loss of the TGL season in the most thrilling of finishes so far this season.
Atlanta Drive, who was down 5-2 with four holes left, staged a furious comeback and defeated LAGC 6-5 in overtime to come away with the first come-from-behind victory in TGL’s short history.
“When you get in those little competitive moments, the juices come out and we have fun and you get nervous, and listen, it was a fun match today,” Billy Horschel of Atlanta Drive said.
LAGC (2-0-1) won the third hole of the match to get off to a quick 1-0 lead, before Atlanta Drive (2-0-0) matched on the fourth hole and then took its first lead, 2-1, after winning the par-4 6th.
Tommy Fleetwood then stepped up big in back-to-back holes for LAGC, nailing an 8-footer for birdie on No. 7 and following that up by driving the green on No. 8 to just six feet – leading to an Atlanta Drive concession.
LAGC won back-to-back holes starting Singles to push its advantage to 5-2 before the Atlanta Drive comeback started on No. 13.
Billy Horschel worked the new Hammer strategy to perfection. He threw it prior to the hole beginning, meaning LAGC had to accept and that the hole was worth two points.
Horschel proceeded to make birdie, cutting the lead to 5-4.
On the final hole of the match, Sahith Theegala found himself in trouble — hitting both his tee ball and his approach into the bunker, before leaving his third in the bunker again. Justin Thomas, meanwhile, hit a poor approach shot and an even poorer first chip.
Thomas more than made up for it, however, holing out from 20 feet for a closing-hole birdie and forcing the match into overtime.
“Getting beat is one thing, but I didn’t want to lose,” Thomas said. “I didn’t want to hand that over to them, and I felt like I would have done that if I didn’t chip in. So, I was glad the hole got in the way.”
From there, Atlanta Drive stayed hot.
Horschel knocked his shot to 10 feet, seven inches, to win the opening OT frame (with Justin Rose in there to 12 feet already).
Thomas hit his to inside of eight feet, but Fleetwood stepped up and drained his to help LAGC tie it up at 1-1. It was as electric a moment as we’ve seen in the early days of TGL.
Patrick Cantlay then knocked his try to just over five feet and Atlanta Drive’s comeback was complete.
“I think we like to compete, simple as that,” Horschel said. “We love competing. We love that little atmosphere. We don’t want to lose. You don’t want to give somebody something that they can hold over you.”
Despite the loss, LAGC still earned one point and is in a prime position to make the TGL playoffs.
As a team they continued to play well, gaining more than 3.5 strokes with its approach play Monday — the most by any TGL team in any match so far.
“It was a great match to be a part of. I'm happy that I played well for the boys. You always feel good about that. I just felt like we played great as a team, and how many times out of 100 would we lose that match. Probably not many,” Fleetwood said. “It just didn't go our way today, but I really don't think we did anything wrong. That's just the way it goes.”
KEY MOMENT
Thomas’s final-hole hole out was as clutch as clutch can be. A tasty chip-in from off the green forcing the match into overtime was not only electric, but it was impressive — considering the tight lies around the green and the not-really-seen-before shot-making that’s needed in the indoor arena setting.
TOP PERFORMER
Despite the losing effort, LAGC’s Tommy Fleetwood was the man of the match. His ball-striking prowess seems to be built for TGL’s virtual experience and his back-to-back hole-winning efforts (a birdie try and then a drive-the-green bomb) sent LAGC off to an early lead. According to TGL, Fleetwood also had a 55.1 percent “win probability” in the match, the most of any player.
QUOTABLE
“The adrenaline, like the hair on my arms literally standing straight up. It was a really, really cool moment,” Justin Thomas about his overtime chip-in.
UP NEXT
Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel) vs. The Bay Golf Club on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT
Los Angeles Golf Club (Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose) vs. New York Golf Club on Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT
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