Atlanta Drive GC is one match away from the first TGL championship, taking Match 1 of the finals 6-5 over New York Golf Club on Monday.
The match went to the 15th hole, with Patrick Cantlay making a birdie putt from six and a half feet out to force good friend but TGL foe Xander Schauffele into a make-or-lose putt. Schauffele’s putt from 6 feet, 5 inches lipped out.
It was a back-and-forth match the whole way through, with Atlanta Drive winning the first two points in the nine-hole triples format only for New York to come back and tie it going into singles. NYGC’s Cam Young threw down the hammer to get his team up 4-2 to start singles, but Atlanta Drive rallied.
Here’s what else you need to know from the TGL Finals:
MVP of the match
It has to be Billy Horschel. He is a showman who only needs his stage, and the SoFi Center is just that. The lifting of his hat to the crowd after hitting his golf ball off some rocks in the metaverse? Pouring in a critical 12-footer to tie the match in singles, and throwing it into the face of a handful of New York fans? This is a show, and Horschel understands the assignment.
It was not nearly as theatrical, but he tied the match again on the 14th hole, spinning his ball to 5 feet on the par 3. And as Cantlay examined his match-winning putt, it was Horschel helping him read it the entire time.
Horschel has won five more singles points than any other play in TGL this season. “I’m very well aware of when people are picking against me. I want to prove them wrong, and I want to beat the person I’m going against as bad as anybody I’ve ever gone against at that moment,” Horschel told reporters.
BILLLY!! pic.twitter.com/ZVB0KMHpiW
— TGL (@TGL) March 25, 2025
Worst moment of the night
ESPN’s Marty Smith question to New York Golf Club’s healthy scratch and 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick: “What is more nerve-wracking, watching these guys try to win a championship or winning a major championship?”
Fitzpatrick’s response? “I’m feeling pretty sick right now, yeah.”
What’s at stake
The two teams will meet again on Tuesday night, for at least Match 2 and, if necessary, Match 3 in the best-of-three series. Match 2 will start at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
TGL has made little mention of the prize money throughout its first season — a conscious decision. “As a fan of sports, I’m tired of hearing about money. So if I am, I’m sure every other fan is, too,” Mike McCarley, CEO of TMRW Sports Group, TGL’s parent company, said before the start of the season.
That said, the winning team will share $9 million, or $2.25 million per player — more than Viktor Hovland took home for claiming the Valspar Championship on Sunday. The losing team will share $4.5 million.
“This was probably one of the more serious matches that we’ve played,” New York GC’s Xander Schauffele told reporters. “You can tell everyone was trying to win, and them being up one is a big advantage, but in my eyes and I’m sure these boys and our team, we lost our first two matches, so this technically isn’t something that we’ve haven’t already faced this exact season. It’ll be a fun go tomorrow.”
(Photo of Billy Horschel of Atlanta Drive: Brennan Asplen / TGL via Getty Images)