Robert TheodorsonBilly Horschel and the Atlanta Drive improved their record to 2–0 by taking down heavy favourites The Bay Golf Club, featuring Wyndham Clark, Shane Lowry, and Ludvig Åberg. It was the second straight victory for Atlanta and the second straight TGL start for substitute Chris Gotterup, who once again filled in for Justin Thomas.
Åberg, speaking ahead of the match, said the second season already feels less like a leap into the unknown: “I think we’re definitely more prepared what to expect… going into today at least you sort of know where you’re going to go and know sort of the run of the schedule. Yeah, it’s fun. It’s really fun. This is really cool to be a part of.”
Triples
The Bay threw the Hammer early and often, but a pair of near-impossible chip-ins from Patrick Cantlay and super-sub Chris Gotterup sent Atlanta to singles with a 3–2 lead.
After Atlanta took the first point in triples, it was Clark and The Bay who leaned into pure aggression, using the Hammer to steal two early points and briefly flip the match on its head. That approach fits Clark’s view of what makes TGL work: “It makes it fun because I think you get to see us hit certain shots… It’s kind of like a game, and I think why not treat it like a game and make fun holes.”
Season 2 “Stinger” hole: the numbers told the story
The Stinger again proved it can punish anything slightly off-line. Atlanta’s Horschel produced a low-launch driver (4.5°) that kicked off the rock and stayed dry—145.1 yards into the fairway—yet the hole still finished as a bogey tie. By contrast, The Bay’s Sahith Theegala also clipped the rock with driver (3.4°) and paid for it, watching the ball kick into the water for a bogey and a lost hole.
Elsewhere on Stinger, the long-iron shots separated the clean strikes from the costly ones:
- Michael Thorbjørnsen’s 3-iron travelled 285 yards into the fairway and set up a birdie that won the hole.
- Åberg’s 2-iron leaked right and found water—another bogey and another hole conceded.
- Gotterup answered with a 1-iron that ran 300 yards into the fairway; Atlanta made par and took the point.
That blend of chaos and precision is the entire point of the hole—and, on the night, it mapped neatly onto the match’s momentum swings.
The biggest swing arrived when Gotterup faced a 30+ foot chip from near the bunker and holed it for birdie, yanking the air out of The Bay and resetting the contest.
Gotterup later underlined that TGL’s reads are a different kind of problem under the lights: “I try to put a lot of time in on the green because the green is complicated… it’s kind of hard with all the lights to read sometimes. I try to lean on Billy, too, because he’s been in here a lot.”
When it looked like The Bay might escape triples without further damage, Cantlay produced magic of his own—another chip-in that preserved Atlanta’s advantage heading into singles.
Singles
Sticking with their aggressive game plan, The Bay’s Shane Lowry threw the Hammer down on the first hole of singles play to level the match at 3–3. Atlanta reclaimed control quickly as The Bay’s mistakes resurfaced—most notably Åberg’s continued run-ins with penalty areas across the night.
From there, The Bay needed a miracle. It never arrived. A Lowry birdie putt that could have extended the match ran hot and finished in the rough, and Horschel—inevitably—closed the door, winning the decisive hole.
Horschel later summed up the competitive edge beneath the showmanship: “We care about TGL. Like we compete at—we don’t want to lose. We want to win.” Then, in classic Horschel fashion, he took a detour into self-scouting: “Augusta and me—you said Augusta. I’m a mental midget at Augusta… Doesn’t matter how many times I play it.”
Clark picked up a late point in TGL “garbage time”—the extra holes played for future league considerations in potential tiebreakers.
Man of the Match
Atlanta’s trio are all credible MVP candidates, but the two chip-ins from Gotterup and Cantlay are the shots that will live on the highlight reel.
Horschel, though, remains the emotional thermostat of this team. As he put it: “I’ve always been the energiser guy… I’m in an arena that just allows that to be a little bit more—come out a little bit more and be a little bit more natural.”
Final Thoughts
The Bay were second-best for most of the night, repeatedly gifting Atlanta openings at the exact moment they needed composure. Åberg, in particular, endured a rough outing, with multiple penalties that repeatedly handed holes back.
TGL also announced WTGL will launch in 2027, with Lexi Thompson on hand to discuss the women’s league. Cantlay believes the format is well-suited to showing a different side of elite players—and expects that to translate to the LPGA: “I think we’ve already seen the success with TGL and it’s been able to highlight a little different side of the guys… so I think seeing that for the LPGA Tour is going to be really exciting.”
Atlanta, meanwhile, should now be treated as the benchmark against their remaining opponents: Jupiter, Los Angeles, and Boston. And Gotterup is making a legitimate case to be a full-time team player when expansion arrives—his game has looked tailor-made for this arena, and he is starting to resemble one of the league’s most reliable performers.
