The lineups are in and the course layouts are set for the Finals Series - it’s time to crown a champion at SoFi Center.
No. 3 seed Atlanta Drive GC and No. 4 seed New York Golf Club are the last two teams left standing after upset wins in the Semifinals. Now they’re ready for a best-of-three showdown for the SoFi Cup.
Atlanta edged a thriller in Match 1 on Monday, downing New York Golf Club 6-5 with a clutch putt from Patrick Cantlay on the final hole to take a 1-0 series lead. They'll be back for Match 2 at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday night on ESPN. If necessary, Match 3 will be played at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday night on ESPN.
All matches are also available to stream on ESPN+.
HOLE DESIGNS: Check out the library of hole designs for TGL presented by SoFi
The Finals Series will feature two different course layouts – one for Match 1 and Match 3 (if necessary) and another for Match 2. Here’s a look at the Finals Series course layouts.
Match 2: New York Golf Club vs. Atlanta Drive GC
Tuesday’s layout certainly looks like the more difficult rotation on paper, with trouble lurking everywhere. While only eight combined penalties have been amassed in the layout for Match 1 & 3, the holes for Match 2 have seen 26 combined penalties throughout the season.
New York has been strong in the early-going, ranking second in the league in Triples points won while Atlanta ranks fourth. They’d love to get off to an early lead at the two opening holes, the par-4 The Plank and par-5 The Spear.
Two of these Triples holes have seen a combined 12 penalties this season – No. 4, Pick Yer Plunder, and No. 8, Bluebonnet.
Pick Yer Plunder is a mid-length par 5 that doesn’t have a ton of room off the tee. Bluebonnet is a shorter par 4 playing just 312 yards. New York is the only team to have picked up four wins at Bluebonnet, going 4-1-1 so far this season.
New York has been consistent this season in terms of playing the par 3s, 4s and 5s. Their strokes gained total numbers are 3.8 on the par 3s, 3.8 on the par 4s and 3.2 on the par 5s.
Atlanta has been significantly better at the longer holes, with 4.1 strokes gained at par 3s, 5.4 at par 4s and 10.2 on the par 5s. They should have plenty of confidence starting Singles off at the par-5 Serpent, as well as the par-5 15th hole in Sterling.
Match 1 & 3: New York Golf Club vs. Atlanta Drive GC
If needed, the course for Match 3 will be the same layout the teams played in Match 1. It was a back and forth, topsy-turvy affair on Monday with Atlanta holding the edge after a 6-5 victory at SoFi Center.
They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with wins on Bonnie Link and Riptide before New York tied it up after nine holes with wins at Set In Stone and Flex. Each team won Hammer holes at 10 and 11 as the match see-sawed before Horschel stepped up at No. 14 to cancel out Cameron Young's win the hole prior.
That meant Cantlay and Xander Schauffele had the pressure on Hole 15, with the match tied at 5-5. Cantlay stepped up to sink a clutch putt and Schauffele couldn't respond, his effort lipping out to give the point to Atlanta that was enough to earn them a 1-0 series advantage going into Tuesday.