New York Golf Club (NY GC) secured a dramatic 6-4 victory over the previously undefeated Los Angeles Golf Club (LA GC) in the first semi-final of the inaugural Tomorrow Golf League (TGL).
The first semi-final took place at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on March 17 and saw fourth seeds NYGC advance to the championship round next week.
The defeat marked LAGC’s first regulation loss of the season after topping the standings with an unbeaten record.
Despite losing two matches early in the season, NYGC rallied to reach the playoffs and their lineup of Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young outperformed LAGC’s trio of Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.
After Los Angeles won the first hole with Fleetwood’s chip to eight feet and Theegala’s strong play, New York responded on the second hole.
Schauffele chipped to six feet, allowing Fowler to sink a crucial putt to level the score early on.
The match fluctuated through the triples segment, with New York winning the fourth and eighth holes to secure a 3-2 lead heading into singles matches.
Schauffele played a pivotal role, winning key holes against Morikawa including the par-five 10th and par-four 13th. Fowler also contributed by defeating Fleetwood on the par-four 11th.
Theegala pulled one back for Los Angeles on the 12th hole, but Schauffele’s birdie on the 13th pushed New York’s advantage to 6-3.
The match ended dramatically on the 14th hole when Fleetwood had a five-foot birdie putt to extend play but suffered a brutal lip-out.
NYGC will face Atlanta Drive in a best-of-three finals series beginning on March 24 following their victory over The Bay Golf Club in the second semi-final 24 hours later.
James is an avid golfer and reviews golf equipment and new gear for GolfReviewsGuide.com as well as providing the latest golf news. You will find him on a golf course wherever possible.