PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Friday evening matches at the SoFi Center are high-energy, and anytime you have the current Masters Champion, and newly minted Grand Slam winner in the house, it makes for an electric event. McIlroy’s first appearance in the building since reaching golf immortality, saw Boston Common Golf take on Los Angeles Golf Club in a marquee matchup.
Newcomer Michael Thorbjornsen was in the lineup playing as an alternate for the Common, and as it turned out, he stole the show – making four big putts made outside 10 feet, including a 15-footer for eagle on the last, for a walk off victory, the first ever for Boston. “He was a stud tonight,” McIlroy said. “He was the star of the show.”
McIlroy was no slouch himself on Friday night, he took on Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose in singles, and with the match tied 4-4 on the tenth, McIlroy made a short birdie at the par-5 to give Boston a 5-4 advantage.
Collin Morikawa evened the match at 5-5 with a par at the eleventh vs Keegan Bradley. Then Thorbjornsen took over, earning two points at the twelfth and fifteenth in singles against Sahith Theegala.
“We were so close in the early part of the match to getting a stranglehold on it,” Rose said. “Every credit to Boston and certainly to Thorbjornsen with all the putts they made with the Hammer. That was kind of the key to the match for them today.”
When questioned regarding some of the unique hole designs of TGL, McIlroy brought a refreshing perspective, “There’s limitations in the real world to what golf holes you can build. There’s no limitations in what we’re doing here. I’d be all for getting a little funky and creating some more of those holes.“
LAGC is back at SoFi vs. Jupiter Links on Tuesday Jan. 20th at 7 p.m., ET on ESPN. Boston returns to Palm Beach Gardens on Monday, Jan. 26th at 7 p.m., ET on ESPN2, vs The Bay Golf Club.
