After three months, 17 matches, 170 points, 79 Hammer throws and 255 holes, it all comes down to this.
No. 3 seed Atlanta Drive GC and No. 4 seed New York Golf Club in a best-of-three Finals Series for the SoFi Cup.
The action begins with Match 1 at 9 p.m. ET Monday night on ESPN2, followed by Match 2 at 7 p.m. on ESPN and Match 3 (if necessary) at 9 p.m. Tuesday, also on ESPN.
TV & STREAMING: How To Watch TGL In Your Country
This is a culmination of the inaugural season of TGL presented by SoFi, with Atlanta and New York earning the right to play for the title with Semifinal victories over The Bay Golf Club and Los Angeles Golf Club.
Now it’s on to the Finals Series at SoFi Center, where the highlights have unfolded all season long from the screen to the green. The winning team will earn $9 million and the honor of going down in the books as the first-ever league champion.
The rosters are set for Monday’s Match 1, after which teams will announce their lineups for Match 2 & 3. New York will have the honors for Match 1 while Atlanta will have the honors in Match 2 and, if necessary, Match 3.
TGL 101: Everything you need to know about season 1
Match 1: Atlanta Drive vs. New York Golf Club
Lineups
Atlanta Drive GC: Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay
New York Golf Club: Cameron Young, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele
Playing Order Reveal
Here’s the order in which players will tee off for their teams:
TRIPLES
SINGLES
3 Things to Know
Putt for Dough: It’s no surprise that the top two putting teams in the league have advanced to the Finals Series. New York is first and Atlanta is second in total feet of putts made. Atlanta has been slightly better from short range, making 70.3% of putts from 5-10 feet, while New York has made more from outside 10 feet.
Single-Minded: If you want to get to Atlanta, you better do it early. They’ve been the best team in Singles this season by a wide margin. Atlanta leads the league in points won, birdies or better and strokes gained total in Singles. Their total of 14 strokes gained in Singles is more than double the next-best team, while Cantlay, Thomas, Horschel and Lucas Glover have a combined 13-6-15 record in the format.
Head Start: We’ve heard players talk all season about the importance of getting an early lead. That’s been especially true for both of these teams. Atlanta is 4-0 on the year when scoring first while New York is 2-0-1. The best-of-three format also adds urgency for Monday’s Match 1, with the losing team then needing to win back-to-back matches Tuesday night in order to hoist the SoFi Cup.
How They Got Here
Atlanta Drive GC: Atlanta got off to a winning start on the year and never looked back, with the right mix of skillsets and personalities to form a true championship contender.
The season began with a matchup against 0-1 New York. Little did anyone know we were watching an early Finals Series preview, with Thomas, Cantlay and Horschel coming through in a 4-0 victory. Atlanta began the match with the Hammer and never put it in play, shortly after which the Hammer rules were adjusted to give teams three Hammers at the start of each match.
Atlanta ripped off another victory in a 6-5 win over Los Angeles Golf Club to kick off a Presidents Day Tripleheader. They suffered their only loss of the season in the match that immediately followed, falling to The Bay Golf Club in a 6-5 nail-biter.
Atlanta has since won three straight to get into this position and has outscored opponents 18-4 over the last two – including a 9-3 upset win over No. 2 seed The Bay in the Semifinals.
New York Golf Club: Those paying close attention knew that New York would be a championship contender if they could just get into the postseason. That looked like a tall order earlier this season after an 0-2 start in which NYGC wasn’t competitive.
New York played in the very first TGL match on Jan. 7 and fell behind 6-0 through six holes in an eventual 9-2 loss to The Bay. NYGC failed to get on the board in their second match of the season, a 4-0 loss to Atlanta.
With Schauffele out due to injury, New York fought back and earned its first win in blowout fashion with a 10-3 victory over Jupiter Links Golf Club. NYGC won seven of the first eight holes and set the tone for the second half of the season.
While an Overtime loss to Los Angeles followed, New York dug deep and delivered in a must-win match against Boston Common Golf to secure the fourth spot in the playoffs. They kept it rolling with an upset win over Los Angeles in the Semifinals and now lead the league in a host of categories since the third regular season match, including holes won, points won and feet of putts made.
5 KEY STATS TO KNOW
+17.6: New York’s strokes gained total since the start of their third regular season match.
186.1: As in, 186.1 mph driver ball speed for New York’s Cameron Young, fastest of any player in the Finals Series.
+2.52: Atlanta’s average strokes gained approach per match, first in TGL.
108: Feet of putts made for Atlanta’s Justin Thomas, most in the league.
38.46: Percentage of players hitting the green in regulation at the par-4 Alpine, lowest of any of the holes that will be used in both Match 1 and Match 2.
The Course
Teams will play different course layouts in Match 1 and Match 2. The first layout has seen far fewer penalties accumulated on the year – eight in the layout for Match 1 compared to 26 in the layout for Match 2. But Match 1 features the hardest hole in terms of green in regulation percentage – the par-4 eighth hole, Temple, with players hitting the green in regulation only 12.5% of the time.
HOLE DESIGNS: Check out the full library of TGL holes
Seven holes will be used in both Match 1 and Match 2, including Alpine, Cliffhanger, Set in Stone, Oh Chute, Sterling, Straight Up and On the Rocks.
If necessary, Tuesday’s Match 3 will utilize the same course layout as Match 1.
HOLE SPOTLIGHT
No. 13: Straight Up, Par 4
Straight Up will be used in Match 1 and Match 2, but it’s going to look like an entirely different hole given the massive yardage discrepancy. This will play as a drivable 297-yard par 4 Monday night in Match 1. Players will then move back for Match 2, with the hole stretching out to 464 yards.
Atlanta and New York have played this hole 11 times combined this season and both teams have made hay here – Atlanta is 2-0-4 at Straight Up while New York is 4-1-0.