TGL is back this week with an epic triple header Monday followed by Tiger Woods’ return Tuesday.
A ton of golf will be played over the next few days and it’s an important time in the inaugural TGL season – with the playoffs beginning in mid-March.
Starting with Monday’s triple header, TGL has installed a new set of rules for The Hammer, after it was held for the duration of the last match where Los Angeles GC defeated Boston Common Golf.
Effective immediately, at the start of a match, each team will have three Hammers to use during the match at their discretion. Each team can throw a maximum of one Hammer per hole and the maximum a hole can be worth is three points if both teams throw a Hammer on the same hole (and each is accepted). Per previous, a Hammer thrown prior to the start of a hole must be accepted.
While TGL has made a mid-season rule change, the Hammer is a fan and player favourite and, per TGL, the update is “designed to enhance the TGL experience and provide more opportunity for comebacks by teams trailing in a match.”
TGL’s Competition Committee unanimously approved the update.
Here’s everything else you need to know about the three big matches happening Monday from the SoFi Center.
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TGL on Sportsnet
TGL is back with a special triple header that starts with Atlanta Drive GC taking on Los Angeles Golf Club. Tiger Woods will then make his return with Jupiter Links GC on Tuesday. Watch all the action on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on Monday.
Standings, schedule, results
Atlanta Drive GC: Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas (sitting: Lucas Glover) vs. Los Angeles Golf Club: Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood (sitting: Collin Morikawa)
• LAGC has been a dominating early-season presence in TGL, leading 29 of the 30 holes it has played so far.
• LAGC sits atop the SoFi Cup standings at 2-0-0, having won its first two matches by a combined score of 18-3.
• LAGC leads TGL in both Triples points (13) and Singles points (5) so far.
• Atlanta Drive GC went undefeated on par-4s in its opening match against New York GC (3-0-2).
• Both teams have been stellar on the greens so far (although the Atlanta Drive sample size is small), with Atlanta Drive GC’s average putts made (13.1 feet) and LAGC’s short-putt efficiency (85 per cent) both ranked No. 1 in TGL.
• Theegala, Fleetwood, Thomas, and Horschel are all undefeated in Singles play in TGL.
• Fleetwood is one of just three TGL golfers to hit every fairway so far this season.
• Cantlay, Thomas, and Fleetwood were firmly in the mix through Sunday at The Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour.
Atlanta Drive GC: Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Justin Thomas (sitting: Billy Horschel) vs. The Bay Golf Club: Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, Min Woo Lee (sitting: Shane Lowry)
• Atlanta Drive GC is back with its second match of the day with Glover taking the place of Horschel (and Cantlay and Thomas staying on to play a back-to-back).
• The Bay Golf Club returns to TGL for the first time since the first match of the season when it defeated the New York Golf Club.
• In that opening match, The Bay GC dominated the par-3s, going 3-0-2 on the short holes.
• Aberg said this week on the PGA Tour he lost eight pounds after a stomach bug morphed into body aches and chills and he was forced to withdraw from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He returned impressively at The Genesis, however, finding himself inside the top 3 of the leaderboard late Sunday. He was also a quick TGL learner, at least on the greens, as his 32.1-foot birdie in the first match is the longest made-putt of the season so far while his 312-yard carry distance off the tee is the longest of anyone in TGL.
• Lee makes his TGL debut with Lowry sitting.
• Glover makes his TGL debut with Horschel sitting.
The Bay Golf Club: Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark (sitting: Min Woo Lee) vs. Boston Common Golf: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama (sitting: Adam Scott)
• This could very quickly become a “must-win” situation for Boston Common Golf with an OT loss and a loss in regulation already this season. Boston Common is one of two teams without a victory with just three matches left in the season.
• Matsuyama makes his TGL debut. He won the season-opener on the PGA Tour, The Sentry, at 35-under par – a 72-hole record low.
• Clark swaps with Lee for The Bay Golf Club from its late-afternoon tilt.
• Boston Common has been very active with the Hammer (seven in play in two matches) although they have won only one point from those seven Hammer throws. Expect that activity, with the new Hammer rule in effect, to continue.
• The big difference for Boston Common is going to be how it plays the par-4s. In two matches they have not won a single par-4 hole, sitting with an 0-4-6 record.
• Boston Common has also seen a wildly different effort on the greens so far in two matches. It made 70 feet of putts in the opening match (season-high by any team) but only made five feet of putts in its second match, a loss to LAGC.
Los Angeles Golf Club (2-0)
Boston Common Golf (0-1-1)
Atlanta Drive GC (1-0) vs. Los Angeles Golf Club (2-0) on Monday Feb. 17
Match begins: 1 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
Atlanta Drive GC (1-0) vs. The Bay Golf Club (1-0) on Monday Feb. 17
Match begins: 4 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
The Bay Golf Club (1-0) vs. Boston Common Golf (0-1-1) on Monday Feb. 17
Match begins: 7 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
All matches will be broadcast exclusively in Canada on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+
All matches will be played at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with a capacity for 1,500 fans in seating that’s wrapped around the playing area – creating a ‘greenside’ experience.
SCORING EXPLANATION VIA TGL
• Each hole has a value of 1 point and the team with the fewest shots on a hole wins the point.
• Ties are worth 0 points and there are no carryovers.
• The Hammer (NEW) – Each hole is worth 1 point unless a team throws the Hammer. Each team will begin the match with three Hammers. Playing the Hammer raises the stakes of a hole by one point when played and accepted. Teams can only throw the Hammer once on a given hole but are otherwise free to use them at any point in the match to up the ante. The maximum number of points on offer per hole is now 3 (should each team throw a Hammer that is accepted by their opponent). The new rules mean each team will always get the opportunity to throw the Hammer during a match.
• The team with the most points wins the match
• Each match will be played until all 15 holes are completed, even if the match outcome has been decided. A team’s total number of holes won will be used as a tiebreaker in the SoFi Cup Standings at the end of the regular season.
• Within a match, there will be two sessions played in two different formats:
§ Triples – 9 holes – Three players per team competing in an alternate-shot format.
§ Singles– 6 holes– One-on-one, head-to-head competition for the entire hole. Each player from each team plays a total of two full holes during the session.
§ Overtime – If the match is tied after 15 holes, the teams will play a best-of-three, closest-to-the-pin competition to decide the winner. This will be similar to penalty kicks in soccer.
§ The hole location and orientation of the green will remain unchanged from the final/15th hole of the match.
§ The shot distance will be between 25-50 yards and decided pre-match by our match official. All players will play from the same spot. The ball must finish on the putting surface to be eligible.
• Similar to the NHL, TGL presented by SoFi will use a points-based system for the SoFi Cup Standings.
• For each match, teams can be awarded up to 2 points toward their regular-season total based on the following:
Win in regulation = 2 points
Win in overtime = 2 points
Loss in overtime = 1 point
Loss in regulation = 0 points