Atlanta Drive GC made a bit of TGL history Tuesday night, defeating New York Golf Club in a shoutout — marking the second loss of the season for New York.
Atlanta (Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay) defeated New York (Cameron Young, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick) 4-0 for the first scoreless effort in the inaugural TGL season.
“It was great. I think anything is more fun when you’re winning, so we made it very easy on ourselves, and I think we complemented each other’s games well,” Thomas said. “I mean, it’s obviously a tough adjustment for any of us and all teams playing, but we somehow found a way to hit fairways and greens and made a couple putts.”
New York (0-2) managed to hit more fairways than Atlanta and were 11 for 11 in Greens in Regulation, but the difference came on the green, as Atlanta (1-0) made 65 feet of putts in the match.
“We’ve just got to find a way to play better than the other team. We’ve gotten outplayed both times,” Fowler said of his winless New York squad. “I don’t think we played very poorly other than our first hole we got off to a rough start, but other than that, there’s no blaming here.”
Atlanta (1-0) was up 2-0 after Triples and added two more victories on Nos. 10 and 11 in Singles. Young had a 10-footer just scoot by on No. 10 to lose to Thomas, while Horschel knocked off Fitzpatrick on the next hole.
Fitzpatrick had an 11-foot birdie try on No. 14 to try to quash the shutout, but it was not to be, as Atlanta became the first team to hold an opponent off the scoresheet in TGL history.
And talk about team comradery — Cantlay used Thomas’ 60-degree wedge throughout the night after saying he found it more forgiving around the GreenZone.
Whether it was finding new clubs that worked, strategizing well, or hitting the shots that mattered at a good time, everything was clicking for Atlanta Tuesday night.
They are now tied atop the SoFi Cup standings with Los Angeles Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club after three weeks of TGL action.
“It’s definitely fun and different compared to regular golf, and you can feel that out there having the crowd in person nonstop. But at the end of the day, we really want to win, and winning is fun,” Cantlay said. “That’s kind of the main point.”
KEY MOMENT
Justin Thomas nailed a 24-foot par saver on No. 4 after hitting it into the penalty area to tie the hole — and keep Atlanta up 1-0 in the match early.
TOP PERFORMER
Justin Thomas’ putter both kept Atlanta in it and pushed the squad ahead for good. Thomas, who finished runner-up Sunday at The American Express on the PGA Tour — his second runner-up result in his last three Tour appearances — knocked in a 23-foot birdie on No. 13 (and added a nice facial-reaction celebration to boot) that put this match on ice.
A deserving shoutout to Billy Horschel, who rolled into the SoFi Center wearing a Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta Falcons jersey and did the ‘Dirty Bird’ dance — an homage to the late-90s Falcons touchdown celebration after learning the dance with his kids on YouTube. He also brought ‘Dirty Bird’ chains for each teammate to wear around their necks.
QUOTEABLE
“I’d probably go back in time and not watch Billy do the ‘Dirty Bird’ dance if I could because I will never be able to get that out of my mind,” Justin Thomas after watching the 38-year-old Billy Horschel’s dance moves.
UP NEXT
Jupiter Links GC (Tiger Woods, Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner, Max Homa) vs. Boston Common Golf (Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley) on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
For Atlanta Drive GC: Feb. 17 vs. Los Angeles Golf Club (1 p.m. ET) and Feb. 17 vs. The Bay Golf Club (4 p.m. ET).
For New York Golf Club: Feb. 18 vs. Jupiter Links (7 p.m. ET).
