Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf are close to elimination after suffering their fourth loss to Justin Thomas’ Atlanta Drive GC in the inaugural TGL on Monday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay faced off on a par-three during the singles when Boston and Atlanta were tied on two points each, with the Northern Irishman hitting his approach just off the green around 20 feet from the cup.
However, Atlanta then threw down the hammer, increasing the points total of the hole by one, with McIlroy unable to save par and handing them two points as they clinched a play-off spot.
“I think the big turning point was obviously Patrick hit it in close there on the hole that we played, and then they threw the hammer, and I felt like I had to accept it,” McIlroy said.
“I wanted to at least have a chance to tie that hole and give it a good run with the chip. But then getting those two points and going 4-2 up at that point was obviously a big turning point.”
Boston Common’s Rory McIlroy is denied a chip in by the finest of margins on his first hole of the TGL match against Atlanta Drive GC
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley birded on the par-four 13th, but Thomas hit a wedge shot to tie before Billy Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama hit irons one hole later.
Horschel’s ball settled about four inches farther away from Matsuyama’s on the par-three 14th with the former putting first before Atlanta threw another hammer.
Justin Thomas makes birdie after an amazing flop shot during the TGL
Matsuyama missed the birdie try which sent Atlanta into the play-offs with their two extra points.
“We knew we had to go out there and win, and we never have that feeling. You have that in match play in the singles of the Ryder Cup a little bit, but more than likely it’s not coming down to your exact match,” said Bradley after the 6-3 triumph.
“That was fun. We came in here really expecting to win. We got off to a bit of a slow start. We didn’t play that great at the beginning, but we picked it up at the end. Some good shots for the boys there on Atlanta to beat us at the end.”
McIlroy’s Boston sit at the bottom of the table in sixth place with only one point. However, they still have a path into the play-offs but will need a win over New York in their final match as well as relying on other results to go their way.
Los Angeles Golf Club top the table after they earlier edged New York Golf Club 5-4 in overtime to secure a play-off spot.
The Bay Golf Club, which features Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark and Min Woo Lee, sit second with six points from three matches, and are also through to the play-offs as they can no longer finish lower than fourth.
LA rally for victory
Los Angeles Golf Club were 4-0 down before launching a comeback to beat New York Golf Club 5-4.
Tony Finau made his debut for LA Golf Club and stunned Rickie Fowler’s New York Golf Club with a late comeback
After scoring four points in three holes from the 12th to the 14th to tie the match, Los Angeles prevailed in a best-of-three, closest-to-the-pin overtime competition.
Neither LAGC’s Tony Finau, who was making his debut, nor New York’s Matt Fitzpatrick were close in the first round, but Finau edged out Fitzpatrick by a mere five inches.
Collin Morikawa’s shot then spun back to six feet and Rickie Fowler was unable to match it, clinching victory for LA.
Fowler had set a TGL record with the longest putt made courtesy of his 36-foot birdie on the opening hole, before Cameron Young toppled that with a 38-footer at the fourth.
“I’m so impressed with the place,” Finau said. “I couldn’t believe how big it was. I watched a lot of the matches. It’s really cool to finally be here.”
What’s next?
The TGL season continues Tuesday (Wednesday 2am, UK time), with Lowry in action for The Bay Golf Club against Jupiter Links Golf Club. The Bay looks to continue their 100 per cent start, while Tiger Woods sits out for Jupiter Links.
The final round of fixtures takes place next week, with The Bay facing Los Angeles (Monday 8pm), New York Golf Club playing Boston Common Golf (Tuesday 12am) and Jupiter Links taking on Atlanta Drive (Wednesday 12am).
The top four in the season-long standings progress to the semi-finals, held the week beginning March 17, with every match of the 2025 and 2026 seasons exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
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