Palm Beach Gardens, Fl – They began their season at SoFi 0-2, and a couple of months later New York Golf Club finds themselves in the finals. We’ll find out who they’ll face next week for the title after tonight’s semifinal match between the Atlanta Drive and The Bay Golf Club.
The scoring started early on the 1st with LA throwing the Hammer, NY declined and went down 1-0. We had a make miss situation at the 577 yard second, Xander stuffed his third shot for NY to 5 feet pulling the string on a sand wedge. Morikawa hit his approach to 12 feet. Fleetwood missed for LA, Fowler made the putt for NY. . . and we were off to a 1-1 tie. At the 568-yard 4th, it was Rickie Fowler who completed the two-putt par, while LA made a mess of the hole, 2-1 NY
Tommy Fleetwood hit the flag stick on the 189 yard par 3 fifth. NY was short of the green and chipped to 10 ft. Xander missed the par putt and LA’s close range birdie was conceded. Tied at 2
On the driveable 312 yard 8th, both Fleetwood and Fowler attempted to drive the green but came up a bit short. The Up n Down game yielded a missed birdie putt from Morikawa, and a Xander make from 4 feet away – 3-2 NY.
On the 576 yard 10th, Morikawa vs Xander Schauffele in singles. Morikawa chipped long to 15 ft on his third, Xander, the third-ranked player in the World (and now a South Florida resident) chipped to 11 ft on the par 5. Morikawa missed long left on his birdie putt. NY threw the Hammer, LA declined. NY 4-2.
Hole 11 – Par 4 . . . 436 yards. Fleetwood vs Fowler. Fleetwood went long over the green into the green side bunker. Fowler hit to 7 feet. Fleetwood facing an impossible downhill lie in the sand – shanked it across the green. Hole conceded by LA, 5-2 NY.
Cam Young vs Sahith Theegala on the 174 yards 12th. LA on the verge of elimination, got a glimmer of hope when Young left his tee shot short in the greenside bunker. Theegala threw the Hammer before his tee shot. NY declined before Theegala even hit his tee shot. 5-3 NY.
Hole 13 – Xander vs Collin part deux, par 4 – 464 yards. Both players drove it into the sand. Morikawa hit the green but was left with a lengthy 38ft putt, Xander stuffed it to 8 feet. NY threw the Hammer, and LA declined. 6-3 NY . . . with two holes remaining, LA was in a do-or-die situation.
On the penultimate hole, LA threw the pre-determined Hammer on the 135-yard par 3, but Fowler was up to the challenge for NY – hitting his tee shot to 9 feet. Fleetwood then clutched up and stuffed his to 5 feet. Fowler missed, setting up the moment of the match. LA called timeout, and with the season on the line, Fleetwood lipped out his putt. And just like that, LA Golf Club was eliminated.
New York heads to the finals next week vs the winner of the Atlanta Drive vs The Bay match on Tuesday night.
