Palm Beach Gardens (Sofi Center) – In the twilight edition of the TGL Doubleheader (Match 14), two teams vying to stay alive were pitted against each other – Gotham City vs Beantown. With both Derek Jeter and David Ortiz in the building, the intensity wasn’t quite that of a Bronx Bombers vs Red Sox do or die playoff game, but the New York Golf Club and Boston Common were both needed a win to extend there hopes of a postseason birth.
New York Golf Club rostered Cam Young, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler vs Boston Commons Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott.
On the par 4 opener, New York jumped out early to a 1-0 lead when McIlroy missed a short par putt.
On the third, Keegan Bradley threw the Hammer after Adam Scott hit his approach to 6 feet. New York declined the challenge to tie the match at 1-1.
At the 591 yard fourth, Keegan Bradley nearly reached the green with 5 wood and Boston’s Adam Scott chipped in for eagle to snag the 2-1 advantage.
At the 194 yard fifth, NY threw the Hammer and Xander Schauffele executed the birdie putt to regain the lead 3-2.
At the 474 sixth, Xander got the break of the night – with his tee shot hitting the rocks guarding the penalty area, the ball kicked back into the fairway. Boston found themselves in trouble when Adam Scott lost his tee shot right into the penalty area. The New Englanders couldn’t get right, and conceded the hole. 4-2 Empire State.
At the 297 yard eighth, NY picked up another point when McIlroy failed to convert a 6ft birdie putt. 5-2.
On the 588 yard ninth, Cam Young went for the green in two and came up short, Rory also attempted to reach from the fairway sand from 240+ and hit a sweet fade to 29 feet. Fowler pitched to 12 feet, and Keegan threw the Hammer. Xander missed the 12 foot downhiller, and Adam Scott converted the birdie to change the momentum into Boston’s favor – 5-4.
Singles Mode: At the 577 yard tenth, Rory vs Cam Young . . . Young made a mess of the hole and conceded to knot things up at 5-5.
Keegan vs Rickie on the short 377 yard eleventh. Both players faced lengthy birdie putts, Rickie 26′ 11″, Keegan 16′ 4″. Fowler missed his, and Bradley drained his to get Boston their first lead of the night.
Adam Scott vs Xander Schauffele on the 179 yard one shotter, the twelfth. Adam missed the green, and Xander hit his to 12 feet. Scott ran his chip 8 feet past, and NY threw the Hammer. It was accepted, but Xander drained the putt to give NY the two points and a 7-6 lead.
Hole 13 “Alpine” a par 4 that plays 535 yards downhill, it was Rory vs Cam “Part Deux”. From 236 out, Rory put it into the front green side bunker, and Cam reached the green some 26 feet away. Rory blasted out just off the green, and Cam two putted for par. Rory’s chip attempt went long and NY went up 8-6 with two to place.
Rickie vs Keegan on the 148 yard fourteenth. Fowler nearly aced it, and Keegan stepped up and stuffed it himself. Good, good. On the final hole . . .
Predetermined Hammer was out in a do-or-die situation at the 554 yard final hole. Needing Adam Scott reached the green in two but faced an impossible putt. He 3 putted, Xander chipped in and grabbed the 10-6 victory – clinching a post-season birth for New York Golf Club.
“We’re ready to roll. It’s been fun. Like I said, we’re heading and trending all the right direction, especially after starting the season 0-2. It became a do-or-die situation from there on out. Other than losing the close one to LA, we’ve played some good golf, and we’re ready to continue to make that even better.” – Rickie Fowler
New York Golf Club as the No. 4 seed and will face Los Angeles Golf Club in the semifinals. Jupiter and Boston were both eliminated from the playoffs.
