Los Angeles Golf Club kept its impressive early season run going with yet another big TGL victory Tuesday night.
LAGC (2-0-0) defeated Boston Common Golf (0-1-1) 6-2 after getting out to an insurmountable lead over the first nine holes.
The team of Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood (making his TGL debut) got off to a fast start, leading 5-0 after triples. While Keegan Bradley got Boston Common on the board after hitting his tee shot on the par-3 12th to just two feet en route to a birdie, Fleetwood bested Rory McIlroy on the very next hole to put LAGC up for good.
Teams that have taken the first lead in the match improved to 4-1 with LAGC’s win Tuesday night, showing the importance of a fast start.
LAGC has now won a league-leading 15 holes in its two matches so far and sit atop the SoFi Cup standings.
“It’s obviously, as players, so much better playing, and I loved getting into the flow of it. I loved getting into that team atmosphere,” said Fleetwood of his debut. “Yeah, the start obviously couldn’t have gone any better, and I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of days, not just playing tonight but the build-up to and the preparation.”
The putting was the difference for LAGC Tuesday night. It made 32 feet of putts (to just five feet for Boston Common), while it made 88 per cent of its short putts (up to 10 feet) while Boston Common managed to hole just 20 per cent of its short putts. The ball-striking stats were essentially even, with LAGC hitting 10 greens in regulation to Boston’s nine, while LAGC’s proximity to the hole was about 19 feet to Boston’s 21 feet.
“We spent a lot of time trying to figure out these greens and reading them. They’re really difficult. Around the holes don’t always go the same way so you’ve got to figure it out and feel it out while we’re there,” Morikawa said. “Golf is always going to come down to putting. Those are the big moments.”
LAGC held the Hammer on the first hole but never put it in play, despite some egging-on from both the crowd at the SoFi Center and the Boston side.
“Momentum counts for a lot,” Adam Scott said. “This moves really quick, and the points got away from us tonight. It was hard to claw back, and the Hammer seemed to vanish. As that stayed away, our chances dwindled.
“It was that typical momentum in a match-play situation of playing for the hole where they got the momentum early and it went their way, and we got nothing.”
It was another tough defeat for Boston Common, who went down to Jupiter Links GC in overtime in its debut match last week. McIlroy, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Sunday on the PGA Tour, said with a smile his post-victory celebration included two In-and-Out burgers and “a couple bottles of wine” on the plane before landing back in Palm Beach at 1 a.m. ET.
He said for Boston’s next match they may need to tap into Hideki Matsuyama, the team’s fourth who has yet to play a TGL match yet, for a spark. Boston currently sits outside a playoff spot.
“We need something,” McIlroy said.
There was a moment of silence for TGL co-founder Tiger Woods’ mother, Kultida Woods, who died Tuesday at age 80. Kultida, who is credited for Woods wearing his iconic red on Sundays, was in attendance last week for Woods’ Jupiter Links GC win over Boston and had long been her son’s biggest on-course supporter.
“Without her,” Woods wrote, in part, in a statement earlier Tuesday, “none of my personal achievements would have been possible.”
Tommy Fleetwood roasted an approach on the par-5 9th getting LAGC on in two before Justin Rose rolled in the birdie – sending LAGC to a 5-0 lead after triples, a lead that became too much for Boston Common to overtake in singles.
Collin Morikawa knocked his first shot of the match to just three feet – and added a little dance for good measure. He also hit his tee shot on the par-5 3rd to just six feet, leading to another LAGC win.
An honourable mention to Keegan Bradley who, in a losing effort, scored both points for Boston in the singles portion of the match. He bested Justin Rose on both the par-3 12th and the par-5 15th.
“Who frustrated who? Hopefully it was frustrating Boston. That’s the whole point of it,” Justin Rose on why LAGC kept the Hammer.
TGL has an off week starting Feb. 11 before a triple header the week of Feb. 17.
Los Angeles Golf Club (Sahith Theegala, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose) vs. Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel) on Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Billy Horschel) vs. The Bay Golf Club (Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark) on Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
The Bay Golf Club (Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark) vs. Boston Common Golf (Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama) on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
