Atlanta Drive GC has started the second TGL campaign just as hot as they ended the first, jumping out to a 2-0 record after defeating The Bay Golf Club Tuesday night.
It was no surprise Billy Horschel nailed the match-winning point in singles as Atlanta Drive won 7-4, handing The Bay a loss in its first match of the season.
Horschel’s seven-foot birdie on No. 13 Tuesday locked things up for Atlanta Drive, marking the third straight match Horschel earned the win for his team with his putter — and he celebrated appropriately.
“(In the SoFi Center) you can be a little bit more free. These aren’t guys I’m competing against; I’m playing with them. They’re my partners. When you see some special golf shots (and) you see the guys rise to the occasion, hit a great golf shot, that’s really cool to me,” Horschel said.
Atlanta Drive outscored The Bay 4-2 in singles and continue to dominate that format. They sit plus-25 in point differential in TGL history.
Atlanta Drive has also quickly become an expert squad in the use – or non-use – of the hammer. Patrick Cantlay, who sat out the first match of the season for the defending champions due to injury, returned to action Tuesday and is the team leader on hammer strategy. Atlanta Drive led the league in hammer point differential a year ago and used it again with aplomb Tuesday – declining three hammer throws from The Bay (to avoid a two-point swing).
Atlanta Drive went up 5-3 after the 12th hole after they declined a hammer rather than attempting a 9-foot par putt. With just three holes to play they still had two hammers to use and essentially used simple math to help win the match.
The match did get tight after singles, as The Bay tied it 3-3 after Lowry handed Horschel a loss on No. 10.
The Bay actually looked like they were going to tie the match on the final hole of triples, but Cantlay holed a 40-foot chip (using teammate Justin Thomas’ wedge, at that) for birdie.
Through five holes Atlanta Drive actually trailed 2-1 but regained the lead after winning Nos. 6 and 8. The sixth hole was a particularly important turning point, as The Bay was just nine feet away for a birdie. Chris Gotterup, who was playing his second match in a row as a fill in, was standing over an awkward chip as he had both feet in a greenside bunker and the ball sitting on the lip. He nailed it, though, for the shot of the day.
“It was a lot of luck involved,” Gotterup admitted. “I was standing over it for a second and we had to call timeout because I didn’t know what I was going to do. Sometimes you get lucky in this game… you take it when you can.”
So far this season Atlanta has been both lucky and good.
“We care about this TGL,” Horschel said. “We compete (and) we don’t want to lose. We want to win.”
Ladies locked in
TMRW Sports, the parent company of TGL, along with the LPGA Tour announced earlier Tuesday it would be launching WTGL. Following the news, there was immediate star power present as Lexi Thompson, long ranked one of the top female golfers in the world, hit balls at the SoFi Center Tuesday afternoon.
“I think we've already seen the success with TGL and it's been able to highlight a little different side of the guys (and) so I think seeing that for the LPGA Tour is going to be really exciting,” Patrick Cantlay said.
The new league will launch at the conclusion of the 2026 LPGA Tour season and run through the wintertime of 2026-27.
LPGA Tour commissioner Craig Kessler said in press conference Tuesday he “had goosebumps” about the opportunity to showcase some LPGA Tour stars on the TGL stage.
“As (deputy commissioner Liz Moore) and I landed and drove in today, there are a couple of moments in one’s career where you pinch yourself because you’re so excited about what’s to come,” Kessler said. “This is one of those moments.”
