In the first match of the day, Los Angeles Golf Club will look to become the first team to three wins as they take on Atlanta Drive GC on ESPN.

There is a lot of golf to be played on Monday, and the three matches will go a long way in determining the playoffs, which begin in mid-March.

Following the LAGC-Atlanta Drive GC matchup, Atlanta Drive turn around at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN to face The Bay Golf Club, which will play two matches of its own as it faces Boston Common Golf in the nightcap at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Let’s take a look at three things to watch in each of these three matches as the most consequential day of the season so far gets underway.

Atlanta Drive GC vs. LAGC

LAGC Domination

LAGC has asserted itself as the dominant team in the league thus far with convincing victories over Jupiter Links Golf Club (12-1) and Boston Common Golf (6-2). LAGC has led for 29 of the 30 holes it has played.

This begs the question of whether this is because LAGC is the best team in the league or because it took advantage of fortuitous matches in which its opponents did not play quite as well as was envisioned. Based on the current SoFi Cup Standings, Atlanta Drive will be the best team LAGC has played to date so we should get a decent answer to this question in this matchup.

Importance of iron play

One interesting nugget going into this matchup is how much better Atlanta has been in terms of approach play. The sample sizes are still small, but Atlanta Drive GC has hit 73% of greens in regulation while LAGC has only hit 57%. LAGC has made up for this with putting, but that could be unsustainable if Atlanta Drive keeps pounding greens in regulation.

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Team Chemistry

With Billy Horschel galvanizing his Atlanta Drive team with hilarious chained jewelry and Rose rallying his squad on the other side, there is an argument to be made that these are the two closest-knit teams in TGL. That will be a fun, interesting dynamic to watch when the clash on Monday afternoon.

Porter’s Picks

Either way, I get to pick an undefeated team here, and I’m going with the better all-around iron play in Atlanta Drive. It’s so difficult to score around the GreenZone so I’m leaning on iron accuracy and scoring from the Atlanta Drive trio.

Billy Horschel vs. Justin Rose: Rose has been awesome thus far in TGL and is tied with his teammate Collin Morikawa for most total points won. He handles Horschel.

Patrick Cantlay vs. Tommy Fleetwood: Cantlay is potentially a total menace in indoor golf. He’s generally so methodical and precise, and that plays well here.

Justin Thomas vs. Sahith Theegala: Give me J.T. He is quietly having a great TGL and PGA TOUR year, and I think he downs Theegala.

Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay Golf Club

Leading Ludvig

The Bay Golf Club put up what was – at least to me – the most impressive showing of any of the six teams in its opening night win over New York Golf Club. We haven’t seen TBGC or its leading man, Ludvig Åberg, since that evening, and I’m excited to see what Åberg brings to the table in his two matches on Monday.

He looks to be back at the top of his game, and I expect that he will once again thrive after helping The Bay to win big against NYGC on opening night.

Min Woo and Glover Debuts

Though he has technically been on hand for an Atlanta Drive match, this will be Lucas Glover’s league debut. Same for Min Woo Lee. No matter how great the player, it has become clear that there is still a bit of a learning curve in SoFi Center.

While having one player debut could pose a disadvantage for a single team, these two probably cancel each other out and make this matchup one of the most intriguing of the season so far.

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Drives against Drive

Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg and Min Woo Lee are legitimately three of the 10 best drivers in the world. All three rank in the top 16 on the PGA TOUR this year in terms of ball speed off the tee, and all three have an advantage in terms of length over Atlanta Drive. Will that be enough to overcome the terrific iron play on the other side?

Porter’s Picks

TBGC was so dominant in its opener that it’s difficult to ignore here. All of its players have been thriving on the PGA TOUR as well. And while I am in love with the way that Atlanta Drive hit its irons, I’m leaning slightly toward TBGC.

Patrick Cantlay vs. Wyndham Clark: A great matchup. I love how Clark is playing, but I think Cantlay actually gets him.

Lucas Glover vs. Ludvig Åberg: This one goes to Åberg, who was unbelievable in Week 1.

Justin Thomas vs. Min Woo Lee: Thomas here over the less experienced Lee, especially given that J.T. comes in having hit 100% of greens in regulation.

The Bay Golf Club vs. Boston Common Golf

Must win for Ballfrogs

If the Ballfrogs’ matchup with LAGC two weeks ago was bordering on must win, this has fully entered that category. As one of two teams without a victory with just three matches left, if the Ballfrogs lose this one it will be difficult to recover and make it into the top four of the SoFi Cup Standings to get into the playoffs.

Hammer time?

Boston Common Golf had seven Hammers in play through two matches, and I expect we see an active Hammer in this particular match with the new hammer rules in full effect. Whether that’s a good thing for the Ballfrogs could be a different story.

They have only won one point in those seven Hammer throws thus far.

Par 4 probs

Speaking of issues for Boston, par 4s remain a concern. They are 0-4-6 on par 4s through two matches, and getting their first win will likely hinge on whether they can break that streak.

Porter’s Picks

I’m 0-for-2 in picking Boston Common Golf, but I’m tripling down here. They are too talented and too good to keep getting beat, and Hideki Matsuyama is an interesting piece. How Hideki plays in his debut is probably how they go on Monday in this must-win situation.

Shane Lowry vs. Keegan Bradley: A simple formula here. Bradley has hit 100% of his greens in regulation, Lowry only 50%. I’ll give it to Bradley.

Ludvig Åberg vs. Rory McIlroy: Whew, what a matchup. I’ll say Åberg pips him in a mild upset on Monday evening.

Wyndham Clark vs. Hideki Matsuyama: Clark takes down Matsuyama, who will be making his own debut on Monday.

Kyle Porter wrote close to 3 million words about golf over 12 years for CBS Sports and covered 47 majors and five Ryder Cups in the process. He has written three books – Normal Sport 1, 2 and 3 – and built a newsletter of 15,000 golf fans at normalsport.com.