TGL: Rory McIlroy beaten again as Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas impress in historic triple-header

Rory McIlroy’s wait for a maiden TGL victory continues after his Boston Common Golf side were beaten during a historic triple-header of matches on Monday.

McIlroy’s team, who lost their season opener against Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club and were then beaten by Los Angeles Golf Club, fell to another narrow defeat after losing 5-4 to The Bay Golf Club.

Ludvig Åberg featured in both night victories for The Bay – less than 24 hours on from his PGA Tour title at the Genesis Invitational – while Wyndham Clark’s final-hole eagle closed out a win that moves them top of the season-long SoFi Standings.

They had earlier claimed a 6-5 win over Atlanta Drive GC, who had produced a dramatic comeback to beat Los Angeles Golf Club by the same margin in overtime, with changes to the Hammer rule helping to create three tight contests.

The Bay Golf Club (3-0) now hold a one-point lead over Los Angeles GC in the standings, with Atlanta Drive GC two back in third after winning one and losing one of their two matches on Monday.

Boston Common (0-3) sit in fifth place and outside the projected playoff cut-line.

The Bay Golf Club 5-4 Boston Common Golf

McIlroy’s side made the dream start when they accepted the Hammer at the first and Hideki Matsuyama – on his TGL debut – rolled in a birdie for two points, only for The Bay to win a hole back when the Hammer was rejected on the third.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley missed a six-foot birdie try after accepting the Hammer at the fifth, edging The Bay into the lead, although levelled the match with a super chip-in eagle to beat Lowry in the opening hole of singles play.

Åberg poured in a 15-foot birdie to win the 11th but saw team-mate Clark burn an eight-foot chance with the Hammer at the next, which would have moved them three up with three to play.

The match instead was level after The Bay declined the Hammer at the 13th and Åberg traded birdies with McIlroy at the next, before Clark made a 10-foot eagle putt on the last – after watching Matsuyama miss from a few feet further away – to snatch victory.

“This is the first day that we’ve had these new Hammer rules and every match was really tight,” McIlroy said. “I think it enables a team, if they do go down in the match, to come back.

“The Bay threw their Hammers early in the match and didn’t have any for the last few holes, and we kept ours a little bit, and that enabled us to keep ourselves in the match.

“If it wasn’t for Ludvig holing that putt on the par-three, we would have went up going into that last hole. I think these new Hammer rules are really good.”

Atlanta Drive GC 6-5 Los Angeles Golf Club (after overtime)

Atlanta Drive GC produced a stunning late fightback to snatch victory over Los Angeles Golf Club, winning in overtime after a dramatic climax to the opening match.

The all-American trio were three down with three to play against Los Angeles, chasing a third consecutive victory, only for Billy Horschel to utilise the Hammer and claim two points at the 13th and set up a thrilling finish.

Tommy Fleetwood drained a lengthy birdie at the next – having watched Patrick Cantlay go close to a hole-in-one – to keep Los Angeles ahead, before Justin Thomas chipped in from off the green at the par-five last to send the contest to just the second overtime shootout in TGL history.

Atlanta Drive GC won the first point in the nearest-the-pin challenge before Fleetwood holed his effort to take it to a decider, where Cantlay’s ball finished closer than Sahith Theegala’s effort to close out victory.

“It was a great match to be a part of,” said Fleetwood, who fired a hole-in-one albatross during practice and nearly repeated the feat during the match. “I’m happy that I played well for the boys.

“You always feel good about that. I just felt like we played great as a team, and how many times out of 100 would we lose that match. Probably not many?

“It just didn’t go our way today, but I really don’t think we did anything wrong. That’s just the way it goes.”

Atlanta Drive GC 5-6 The Bay Golf Club

The Bay Golf Club ended Atlanta Drive GC’s 100 per cent start with a narrow 6-5 victory in the middle match of Monday’s triple-header, as Thomas and Cantlay fell agonisingly short when attempting a second late comeback of the day.

The Bay took early control by winning three of the first four holes, then recovered from Thomas taking the fifth hole with the Hammer to claim the next and restore a 4-2 advantage.

Lucas Glover chipped in for eagle at the par-five ninth to reduce the deficit to one heading to singles, where Clark claimed the 10th before Thomas levelled the match after using the Hammer to win double points with a birdie at the 12th.

Atlanta Drive GC rejected the Hammer on the next hole and remained one behind heading to the par-five last, where Thomas went agonisingly close to rolling in a long-range eagle putt and forcing overtime for the second successive match.

“JT hit a great putt on the last hole to give us a chance,” Cantlay said. “I think we had two matches that were really close, which is probably exactly what they wanted with the Hammer change, and the new Hammer rules really do change it.

“There’s a lot more decisions to be made out there. I think we made a lot of good ones today, hit some good shots. We had a good day, just came up a little short in that second match.”

What’s next?

Tiger Woods returns to action on Tuesday evening (Wednesday 12am UK time) for the first time since his mother’s death earlier this month, as Jupiter Links Golf Club face a New York Golf Club that will be aiming to avoid a third consecutive defeat.

Los Angeles Golf Club are back in action on February 24 against New York Golf Club (10pm UK time), with Boston Common Golf playing Atlanta Drive later in that day.

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