When TGL’s inaugural season started, Rory McIlroy’s Boston Widespread staff was the odds-on favourite to win the SoFi Cup at +350, per Keith Stewart of Learn The Line. McIlroy has Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley enjoying alongside him, all of whom are ranked inside the high 30 on the planet — oddsmakers itemizing them because the pre-season favourite made sense.
But, with just one match left within the common season, Boston wants outdoors assist to keep away from elimination.
Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, and Patrick Cantlay of Atlanta Drive beat McIlroy, Matsuyama, and Bradley 6-to-3, handing Boston their fourth loss. McIlroy and firm now should cheer for The Bay, who faces a Tiger Woods-less Jupiter Hyperlinks staff on Tuesday night time. Ought to Jupiter Hyperlinks win, they’ll remove Boston from playoff rivalry. Solely the highest 4 groups qualify for the postseason, and Boston at present sits in sixth place — the cellar of the standings.
“We got here in right here actually anticipating to win,” Bradley stated after.
“We bought off to a little bit of a gradual begin. We didn’t play that nice at the start, however we picked it up on the finish. Some good pictures for the boys there on Atlanta to beat us on the finish.”
The pivotal level of Monday night time’s match got here on the par-3 twelfth throughout singles. Boston and Atlanta have been tied up at two apiece, with McIlroy and Cantlay dealing with off.
Measuring solely 162 yards, Cantlay fired a laser to a few toes away. McIlroy hit his method simply off the inexperienced, settling about 20 toes from the cup. Atlanta then threw the hammer, and McIlroy couldn’t save par, giving the Drive a large two factors.
“The massive turning level was clearly Patrick hit it in shut there on the outlet that we performed, after which they threw the hammer, and I felt like I needed to settle for it,” McIlroy stated.
“I wished to at the very least have an opportunity to tie that gap and provides it an excellent run with the chip. However then getting these two factors and going 4-2 up at that time was clearly an enormous turning level.
“It was robust. We felt like we performed fairly good. We hung in there within the triples, and simply upset to not get the job performed.”
Bradley then birdied the subsequent gap, the drivable par-4 thirteenth. However Thomas hit a spectacular wedge shot — among the finest in TGL historical past — to tie.
One gap later, Horschel and Matsuyama every hit terrific irons into the 142-yard par-3 14th. However Horschel’s ball settled about 4 inches farther away from Matsuyama’s. In match play, you wish to putt first so to apply strain to your opponent when you make it. Horschel did simply that, after which Atlanta threw one other hammer, upping the ante of Matsuyama’s birdie strive. If he made it, they might halve the outlet. A miss would give Atlanta two extra factors and, subsequently, the win.
Matsuyama missed, which despatched Atlanta to the playoffs and turned Boston into followers of The Bay.
“Hideki hit an amazing shot into the par-3 and hit an excellent putt,” McIlroy stated.
“It simply didn’t break to the appropriate like we thought.”
An identical sentiment might be stated about Boston’s inaugural marketing campaign in TGL. No one would have thought that they might not management their very own future at this level within the season. However that’s the place they’re, proving that something can occur in golf — even indoors.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
