The first season of the TGL Championship, the hi-tech indoor golf circuit created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, ends with a spectacular putt. The victory goes to the Atlanta Drive Golf Club team (Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel and Patrick Cantlay), who managed to come back on Tuesday and close out the final 4-3 in two matches against the New York Golf Club (Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young).
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Atalanta Drive, results
The final was held in the dedicated arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
After a difficult start, in which they failed to win any of the first 11 holes and were down 3-0, Atlanta Drive turned the evening around by focusing on precision and strategy, taking advantage of the hammer mechanism, a sort of wild card available to each team.
The turning point of the second game (the best of three) came on the 14th hole, when Horschel holed a five-meter double-slope putt, earning two points and putting Atlanta Drive ahead. The knockout blow came from Patrick Cantlay, with a precise pitch on the final hole.
The first winners of the TGL Championship received a prize pool of nine million dollars. The runners-up received exactly half that.
This competition is different from what we face every week. Our goal is to entertain and we had a lot of fun together, Horschel said after the win.
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Justin Thomas agreed: This experience far exceeded my expectations. In the playoffs the level of competition skyrocketed. There was no friction with the other teams but we all wanted to win. We absolutely must get to another match. Were all happy to end the series here, Horschel added.
For much of the match, it looked like New York might extend the series to a third game, with Atlanta struggling on the putts and the Big Apple in control of the contest.
There was also a tense moment in the indoor arena: Schauffele threw the hammer (specifically an orange towel) just as Thomas was about to pick up his putter for an 11-footer on the eighth hole.
According to the rules, the hammer cannot be used if the player has already addressed the ball, but the umpire ruled that Thomas did not have both hands on the grip. So the challenge stood. Atlanta chose not to contest and Thomas conceded the hole without shooting, allowing New York to take a 2-0 lead.
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However, the lead did not last long with the Atlanta Drive comeback putt after putt. The short game is key in these conditions and unfortunately we couldnt get anything going tonight, Cameron Young commented at the end of the match.
With this victory, Atlanta Drive enters the history of the TGL Championship as the first winners of the tournament, thanks to an extraordinary performance that kept the spectators in suspense until the last hole.
