Livescore
Ludvig Åberg didn’t waste any time after his win at Torrey Pines on Sunday.
After taking a jet across the country almost immediately after winning the Genesis Invitational in Southern California, Åberg helped lead The Bay GC to a pair of wins over two of the biggest names in the sport in a TGL Presidents Day triple-header.
They first beat Justin Thomas and Atlanta Drive GC 6-5 in the second match in Florida, and then flew past Rory McIlroy and the Boston Commons GC to grab a 5-4 win and end the night after an eagle putt from Wyndham Clark. It capped what has been a remarkable stretch of golf for the Swedish star, both on the course and on the simulator.
The Bay held on to grab a one-point win in their first match of the day on Monday in Florida, part of a special Presidents Day triple-header. That followed Thomas’ wild overtime rally that he sealed with a chip-in to beat Los Angeles Golf Club.
The Bay jumped to a 3-0 lead almost immediately, thanks in part to a clutch chip-in from Min Woo Lee on the fourth hole. That actually came after a timeout on the green when they forgot to bring a club up.
While Atlanta responded on the fifth, thanks to a 13-footer from Thomas after a hammer was thrown, Lucas Glover missed a perfect opportunity to win the hammer on the next hole and suddenly take the lead. Glover responded on the ninth to close out triples with a chip-in of his own, however, which kept their deficit at one as they entered singles. That chip-in sent Thomas rolling backward on the green in celebration, too.
The Bay finally pulled ahead on the 13th after Clark won via a hammer throw and then Åberg dropped another dart on the par-3 14th. He was just inches away from an ace, which would’ve been the first in competition.
Thomas had a chance to force overtime at the last hole, but Thomas’ long putt was just a bit short. That gave The Bay the one-shot win.
Then in the final match of the day, Hideki Matsuyama got Boston started with a two-point birdie putt on the first hole. The Bay rallied back and took the lead at the par-3 fifth, however, after Keegan Bradley had a 6-foot putt just barely lip out after a Hammer was thrown. That sent him bending over in disbelief. The Bay then rode that lead through the rest of the front nine.
Bradley finally made up for that on the 10th in his head-to-head battle with Shane Lowry. He chipped-in for eagle from the back side of the green, which sparked a huge celebration inside the arena. That tied the match back up.
Åberg kept it going right away with a deep birdie putt to beat McIlroy on their first hole to put The Bay in the lead again. But, after Lowry chunked a shot into the bunker, Boston threw another Hammer to tie the match again heading into the final two holes.
McIlroy then took his shot on the 14th and threw the Hammer after sinking his birdie putt. That put all of the pressure on Åberg, who sank his 6-footer to keep the match tied going into the last. Clark then finally won the match with a 10-foot eagle putt on the 15th to put Matsuyama and Boston away.
Justin Thomas leads Atlanta out of hole
Teeing off in the afternoon out of its usual prime-time setting, the first matchup featured the previously undefeated Atlanta Drive GC (1-0) and the Los Angeles Golf Club (2-0).
LAGC took an early 1-0 lead on the third hole, with Justin Rose sinking a 14-foot putt. However, the match was tied at 1-1 on the next hole when Justin Thomas threw The Hammer for Atlanta, but LAGC declined. (Each team got three Hammers under new rules, compared to one during previous TGL matches.)
Sahith Theegala missed a putt on the fifth hole that would have given LAGC the lead, but the shot lipped out. The two teams remained tied at 2-2 after Holes 6 and 7.
LAGC won the ninth hole on a Thomas putt from seven feet to take a 3-2 lead. They built that margin to 5-2 when Tommy Fleetwood sank a birdie to win Hole 11.
However, Atlanta rallied to make it 5-4 on Hole 13 with a Billy Horschel putt. LAGC held its slight edge until Hole 15 when Thomas chipped in to move the match to overtime.
In overtime, it’s a closest-to-the-pin challenge in TGL. Fleetwood looked like he gave LAGC the win when he holed in his shot. But Patrick Cantlay finished off Atlanta’s rally and got the win, landing his shot to within five feet of the pin.
With the win, Atlanta briefly improved to 2-0 before falling to 2-1 on the season. LAGC took its first loss of the season and fell to 2-1, but it still looks like the TGL favorite ahead of a match next Monday against New York GC, which has yet to win.
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