Palm Beach Gardens – Apparently, having a higher seed in TGL means absolutely nothing. In both semi-final matches this week at the SoFi Center, the lower seed dominated the higher seed. Tuesday it was Atlanta Drive’s turn to flip the narrative on The Bay Golf Club in terms of a 9-3 trouncing. All three Drive team members – Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, and Billy Horschel all contributed to the triumph. . . but it was Cantlay who executed the final dagger. Playing his first hole of Singles with two points at stake and his team leading by three entering the par-3 12th, Cantlay stuck his tee shot to four feet to close out the match and send the No. 2 seed trunk slammin out of the playoffs. “We knew that was the match and he hit a good shot to seal it for us,” Billy Horschel said. “They call him ‘Patty Ice’ for a reason and he came through.”
With the victory, Atlanta Drive GC will play New York Golf Club in the best-of-three Finals Series for the SoFi Cup on Monday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and, if necessary, Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
For The Bay, the team that looked so dominant the first three matches of their season, it was their second straight defeat and the bitter end to a once-promising season. The Drive got on top early and never let up on Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry, and Min Woo Lee who struggled to make putts – similar to Monday’s semi-final when Los Angeles looked woeful on the greens.
Asked afterward on how it felt to get the win and move on the finals, Justin Thomas took to the microphone, “Yeah, it was great. It was a great team win. We all contributed, did what we needed at the right times. I think these guys definitely, I think, held us in there tonight in regard to all of us. I was riding ’em hard and doing the best that I could for us. But that’s kind of the fun part about this is you’re able to rely on your teammates and also they can pick you up a little bit. And we just fight as hard as we can to win the hole and hopefully it’s enough at the end like it was.”
Thomas went on to explain the strategy behind the clinching Hammer throw, “Yeah, that was Pat, that was the big-brain thinking there. He was like, Throw it. If they decline we win automatically. And I’m like, Oh, yeah, that’s a good point. We should throw it. Hey, we’re a team for a reason, we fill in the gaps where it’s needed (laughing).
