With 15 regular season matches in the books, we turn toward what should be a compelling two-week stretch of playoff matches to finish off the inaugural season.

While we will not see Jupiter Links or Boston Common Golf, the matchups we will see are tremendous and all four teams are a real threat to win the SoFi Cup.

First things first, though, as we take a look at the two semifinal matchups that will be played on March 17 and March 18 on ESPN2 and ESPN, respectively. I have a few things I’m keen to check out and a couple of picks to make before the festivities begin on Monday.

New York Golf Club vs. LAGC

Run it back

The most intriguing part of this matchup to me is the fact that New York Golf Club nearly (and probably should have) beat Los Angeles Golf Club in their Presidents Day showdown a month ago. NYGC led 4-0 going to the 12th hole before LAGC won four points over the next three holes (two of them on a 10-foot putt by Tony Finau) to send the match into overtime, which LAGC won.

That changed the tenor of the entire season. If Finau misses that putt then NYGC probably takes a three-match winning streak into these playoffs instead of LAGC going 4-0-1 on the year and getting the No. 1 seed.

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Singles dominance

LAGC’s Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood are a combined 6-0-8 in Singles play this year, an astounding number. Singles is also where LAGC has shined compared to NYGC and what the match could come down to (just like it did in their first meeting).

On the season, LAGC has won 15 Singles points to just nine for NYGC (both teams have won 17 Triples points).

Porter’s Picks

Give me the momentum. I’m a big believer in the idea that it is difficult to beat a team multiple times in the same season, and LAGC got away with one in February.

Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler are both playing good golf and I think they carry that into Monday evening and pull the upset.

As for individual matchups, this is how I see them playing out.

Xander Schauffele vs. Collin Morikawa: A pair of two-time major winners is a nice way to start off Singles. I’ll go with Morikawa here. Morikawa has won 17 points in just 38 holes, which is one of the better percentages in TGL this season.

Rickie Fowler vs. Tommy Fleetwood: Another great matchup between two excellent players. They will be playing a long par 4 and a short par 3. I’m leaning toward tie, but if I have to make a pick, I would say Fleetwood. He's looked good at THE PLAYERS.

Cameron Young vs. Sahith Theegala: Theegala is always electric, but Young has been (perhaps surprisingly) one of the more efficient points winners in the league this year. He’s tied for second overall with 19 points won, but the guy ahead of him (Wyndham Clark) has played 14 more holes, and the player he’s tied with (his teammate, Fowler) has played 12 more. I’ll say Young takes down Theegala as NYGC advances.

Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay Golf Club

Competitive leveling up

One thing I have been considering a lot over the past few weeks is how competitive the atmosphere should be for these playoffs. The regular season got the competitive juices flowing for several players, and now with a trophy and prize money on the line, that intensity is only going to be ratcheted up.

That will likely be most apparent in this matchup between Atlanta Drive and TBGC. Everyone on both sides is crazy competitive, some of them sociopathically so. There is some real potential for fireworks here on Tuesday evening, which should be a blast.

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Can TBGC lean on Clark?

Wyndham Clark has been my MVP of TGL in its first season. He leads the league in holes won, points won, total strokes gained, strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained ball striking. He is the juice for a TBGC team that was one match away from going unbeaten in the regular season.

I personally wish he was facing off against Justin Thomas, who leads the league in strokes gained putting and feet of putts made, but instead he’ll face Billy Horschel, who has also been really strong this season.

The bigger question is how much Clark will impact TBGC’s Triples play and whether they can pull into a lead by the time Singles roll around. That has happened in every match TBGC has played thus far, and if it happens again here, they will likely be headed to the Finals Series.

Porter’s Picks

I really love both of these teams, but we started the season with a dominant TBGC performance against NYGC, and I think that’s how it’s going to end in the Finals as well. This match will be fiery, but TBGC has too many horses and has been too consistent (five straight leads heading to Singles!) for Atlanta Drive to overcome.

As for individual matchups, this is how I see them playing out.

Justin Thomas vs. Shane Lowry: A great matchup of major champions. I’ll say J.T. clips him with some ridiculous putt that he ekes in to win one of their two holes.

Billy Horschel vs. Wyndham Clark: I love Horschel. I think he’s been perfect for this league and perhaps its best spokesperson. But Clark’s dominance will be too much to overcome.

Patrick Cantlay vs. Ludig Åberg: Here’s an interesting stat – Cantlay has won just 10 points in 41 holes. Åberg (15 points in 30 holes) has been awesome all year, and I think he will take down Cantlay to send TBGC to the championship against NYGC.

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.