Justin Thomas' Atlanta Drive beat New York in TGL debut
Published: 22 Jan. 2025, 14:22
Updated: 22 Jan. 2025, 17:26
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![Justin Thomas of Atlanta Drive GC plays a shot on the sixth hole during the TGL match against New York Golf Club at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/22/db13619f-dc64-4401-80ad-bfe3d9fab24a.jpg)
Justin Thomas of Atlanta Drive GC plays a shot on the sixth hole during the TGL match against New York Golf Club at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]
Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas clinched their first TGL victory for Atlanta Drive GC in their tournament debut, beating New York Golf Club's Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young 4-0 on Tuesday.
The Atlanta trio only took one hole to secure the team’s first point in the TGL — a newly introduced golf league played at the purpose-built SoFi Center in Florida, where contenders compete using advanced screen golf and a stadium short course — starting off on the right foot in the triples session.
Each TGL match consists of 15 holes, split into two sessions: Nine holes of triples, where golfers alternate shots in a 3x3 format, and six holes of singles, where two golfers face off head-to-head.
The team with the fewest shots on a hole wins a point, and the team with the most points at the end wins the match. Ties on a hole are worth zero points.
Neither side managed to score in the second to fifth holes, but Atlanta took one more on the sixth hole, ending the triples session at 2-0.
Thomas and Young faced off first on the 10th hole in the singles session, with Thomas winning it to stretch his team’s lead. Horschel then beat Fitzpatrick on the next hole to take the score to 4-0.
![Cameron Young of New York Golf Club plays a shot from a bunker on the fourth hole the TGL match against Atlanta Drive GC at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/22/f2c5bd48-4a86-46ce-8323-98e456908b19.jpg)
Cameron Young of New York Golf Club plays a shot from a bunker on the fourth hole the TGL match against Atlanta Drive GC at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]
“We just gotta find a way to play better than the other team,” Fowler said after the loss. “We got out-played both times. I don’t think we played very poorly other than our first hole. We dug ourselves a small hole but I felt like we played decent from there.”
The results marks Atlanta’s first TGL victory in their first appearance in the competition, while it is New York’s second straight loss after their crushing 9-2 defeat to the Bay Golf Club on Jan. 7.
Atlanta Drive secured two points from Tuesday’s win. A team claims two points for a winning a match, regardless of whether they win in regular or overtime. The team that loses can also take one point if they lose in overtime, but secures zero points for losing in regular time.
![Atlanta Drive GC, in white, shake hands with New York Golf Club after their TGL match at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/22/4b718186-b0be-482d-a0c8-edece733bdcd.jpg)
Atlanta Drive GC, in white, shake hands with New York Golf Club after their TGL match at SoFi Center on Jan. 21 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. [TGL]
The inaugural TGL season sees six teams — New York, Atlanta, Bay Golf Club, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club and Los Angeles Golf Club — consisting of four golfers vying to reach the semifinals slated to begin after the regular season ends on March 4.
Korean golfer Tom Kim also competes in the inaugural TGL season as a member of Jupiter Links, but he skipped last week’s event and has yet to appear in the league. The Korean PGA star is the sole representative from Korea.
Jupiter Links will return to action on Monday, Jan. 27 with their next match against Boston Common's Rory McIlory, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott, who will be making their TGL debut.
The PGA stars competing in the TGL all have a busy schedule through the end of the TGL season, as the PGA and TGL campaigns overlap through March.
The TGL final with a best-of-three format will take place on March 24 and 25.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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