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Match Preview: New York Golf Club vs. Los Angeles Golf Club
March 14, 2025

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It’s time for a cross-country Semifinals showdown as the first-ever postseason in TGL presented by SoFi gets underway in prime time.

No. 1-seed Los Angeles Golf Club and No. 4 seed New York Golf Club have the stage at SoFi Center, where four teams remain in the hunt for the SoFi Cup.

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The first semifinal tees off at 7 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN2, while No. 2 seed The Bay Golf Club plays No. 3 seed Atlanta Drive GC in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN.

Matches Are Set For Semifinals

Los Angeles earned the No. 1 seed with a win over The Bay earlier this month and remains unbeaten in regulation at 4-0-1. New York overcame an 0-2 start on the season and locked up the final playoff spot with a convincing 10-6 win over Boston Common Golf.

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Lineups

New York Golf Club: Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young

Los Angeles Golf Club: Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala

Playing Order Reveal

Here’s the order in which players will tee off for their teams:

TRIPLES

New YorkLos Angeles
Hole 1Xander SchauffeleCollin Morikawa
Hole 2Rickie FowlerTommy Fleetwood
Hole 3Cameron YoungSahith Theegala
Hole 4Xander SchauffeleCollin Morikawa
Hole 5Rickie FowlerTommy Fleetwood
Hole 6Cameron YoungSahith Theegala
Hole 7Xander SchauffeleColliin Morikawa
Hole 8Rickie FowlerTommy Fleetwood
Hole 9Cameron YoungSahith Theegala

SINGLES

Matchup
Hole 10Xander Schauffele vs. Collin Morikawa
Hole 11Rickie Fowler vs. Tommy Fleetwood
Hole 12Cameron Young vs. Sahith Theegala
Hole 13Xander Schauffele vs. Collin Morikawa
Hole 14Rickie Fowler vs. Tommy Fleetwood
Hole 15
Cameron Young vs. Sahith Theegala

3 Things to Know

Winning the Hole Thing: It’s fitting to see Los Angeles on top of the SoFi Cup Standings after the regular season. No team won more holes throughout the year, with LAGC racking up 27. They also won 13 Singles holes, another league-best. While they didn’t finish on top in terms of points won, that’s partially due to conservative Hammer strategy. LAGC only threw the Hammer 11 times this season, but they were second-best with a +6 Hammer scoring differential.

New-Look New York: Schauffele, Fowler and Young would be the first to admit this team didn’t get off to a great start. But NYGC turned it on when it mattered most and the numbers are staggering. New York only won two points and one Triples hole in its first two matches. They won 24 points and 14 Triples holes over their final three matches. This may be the lowest-seeded team with the longest odds at FanDuel to win the SoFi Cup, but it’s certainly a bad time to draw NYGC on the bracket the way they’ve been playing lately.

Run it Back: The first Semifinal is a rematch from what might be the wildest TGL showdown to date. New York had a 4-0 lead through 11 holes and Los Angeles was given just a 2% win probability before teeing off on No. 12. LAGC then ripped off four points over the next three holes to tie the match and set up a stunning Overtime victory. Now they’re matched up again in do-or-die time, and NYGC would love to return the favor.

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Singles Matchups

Xander Schauffele vs. Collin Morikawa: Schauffele has more Singles points on the year with four, but Morikawa remains unbeaten at 3-0-5. Schauffele is about 17 yards longer off the tee and that could play to his advantage at Serpent, the 576-yard par-5 10th hole. Morikawa has more experience with four matches under his belt compared to just two for Schauffele, and he’s been better on the Green having made 83% of putts inside 10 feet. That should give him plenty of confidence at the par-4 13th, Straight Up.

Rickie Fowler vs. Tommy Fleetwood: These two get started at No. 11, The Claw, where Fleetwood holds the longest drive of the season. They finish at No. 14, On the Rocks, a 135-yard par-3 on which several matches have swung late this season. Both guys have been money with the flat stick and this looks evenly-matched on paper.

Cameron Young vs. Sahith Theegala: A wider contrast in terms of emotional approach would be difficult to find. Young is stoic and poised on the course, a man of few words. Theegala is practically bursting with emotion at all times. They begin at Craic On, a par-3 where Young has the closest approach at 5 feet, 5 inches. They finish at the par-5 Sterling, where Young holds the longest drive at 330 yards.

The Course

Monday’s routing won’t be a walk in the park, with several holes that have given players fits this season. There have been 15 combined penalties on three holes alone – No. 2, The Spear, No. 4, Pick Yer Plunder, and No. 8, Bluebonnet.

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We’ll also see three holes that have been used in every match this season – No. 3, Set in Stone, No. 5, Cliffhanger, and No. 14, On the Rocks.

HOLE SPOTLIGHT

No. 1: The Plank, Par 4, 376 yards

The first playoff hole in TGL history is a shorter par 4, and both teams will be dialed in hoping to strike first. New York finished first in the league in par 4s won while Los Angeles was second, so this is right in the wheelhouse.

This has been a relatively generous fairway with players finding the short stuff 86.6% of the time, but the approach has proved difficult and no player has holed a putt longer than eight feet.

Hole Strategy | The Plank