Robert TheodorsonCalifornia repped teams face off Monday night as The Bay (0 -2 – 0) seek their first win of the season against Los Angeles (1 – 1 – 1) who finally get their top player in Fleetwood back in action.
Appearing for the first time since Season 1, Tony Finau fills in for Justin Rose who has earned a much deserved break after winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines two weeks ago.
Making their first ever TGL appearances, youngsters Luke Clanton and Neal Shipley are hoping to give the winless Bay a shot in the arm. A force in Season 1, The Bay has suffered two bad defeats with all four full-time players (Min Woo Lee, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, and Wyndham Clark) failing to provide any type of point production.
When The Bay Had LA On The Ropes – And Blew It
Cast your mind back to the final match of the regular season in Season 1. The Bay Golf Club (BAY) sauntered in at a perfect 4-0-0, looking as smug as a three-putt bogey, while Los Angeles Golf Club (LA) arrived at 3-0-1, their only blemish an overtime loss to Atlanta Drive GC.
Through eight holes, BAY led 3-0 and looked every inch the SoFi Cup favourite. Then the wheels, tyres, and most of the chassis departed.
On the final hole of Triples, LA nicked its first point on No. 9 (Quick Draw) when BAY declined the Hammer. That opened the door. LA kicked it off its hinges.
LA tied the match with two points on No. 10 (Serpent) and then took its first lead on No. 12 (Fallen Pine) when Sahith Theegala chipped in for birdie from 20’2”. On No. 15 (Pick Yer Plunder), Theegala sealed a 5-3 win and LA’s fourth victory of the season by stuffing his approach to 5’0”, with BAY conceding the birdie putt.
BAY haven’t really stopped falling since. They lost in the semifinals to Atlanta Drive GC and have opened Season 2 with two more defeats. With Jupiter Links Golf Club beating Atlanta Drive GC last week, BAY are now the only team without a win this season. In TGL, that’s not a fun way to introduce yourself.
LA Reloads: Fleetwood Arrives For His Season 2 TGL Debut
If you’re going into a televised golf cage fight in a football stadium, it helps to bring someone unflappable. LA have chosen Tommy Fleetwood.
Los Angeles Golf Club welcomes Fleetwood for his Season 2 TGL debut. He’s climbed to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking and joins Theegala and alternate Tony Finau, who also filled in as an alternate for LA in Season 1.
Fleetwood’s résumé in this format is already impressive. During the regular season last year he was fifth in Driving Accuracy at 81.8% and went 3-1-4 in Singles, undefeated in regular-season play. If you’re looking for someone to keep the ball out of the virtual trees and the real scoreboard ticking, he’s your man.
LA will fancy their chances of turning him loose from tee to green again in Season 2.
LA’s Strengths: Fairways, Greens, and A Few Bruises With The Putter
The stats back up the swagger. Across their TGL career, LA:
- Lead the league in Greens in Regulation at 76.7%
- Rank second in Driving Accuracy at 75%
- Sit second in Medium-Putt Efficiency (10-30 ft) at 30%
The Achilles heel? Short putts. LA are tied for last in Short-Putt Efficiency at 62.5% on putts inside 10 feet this season. In this league, missing from that range is like dropping your phone down a lift shaft – it’s going to cost you, and you’ll remember it for a while.
Still, with Fleetwood’s 85.7% driving accuracy (299.1 yards on average, longest at 327.7 yards) and a tidy Singles record of 3-1-4, alongside Theegala’s knack for the spectacular and Finau’s metronomic ball-striking (75.0% driving accuracy, 316.1 yards off the tee), LA’s ball-striking spine remains one of the best in TGL.
What On Earth Happened To BAY?
In Season 1, BAY were a stat nerd’s fever dream:
- 1st in Driving Accuracy at 76%
- 1st in Greens in Regulation at 76%
- 1st in Short-Putt Efficiency (0–10 feet) at 78.3%
- 2nd in Medium-Putt Efficiency (10–30 feet) at 17.4%
- 1st in Triples Points Won (21) and Triples Holes Won (17)
Fast forward to Season 2 and the transformation is about as subtle as a shank on the simulator:
The Bay Golf Club: Season 1 vs Season 2
- Driving Accuracy: 76% (1st) → 55% (6th)
- Greens in Regulation: 76% (1st) → 56.7% (6th)
- Short-Putt Efficiency: 78.3% (1st) → 66.7% (4th)
- Medium-Putt Efficiency: 17.4% (2nd) → 0% (T5)
- Triples Points Won: 21 (1st) → 3 (6th)
- Triples Holes Won: 17 (1st) → 3 (6th)
You don’t need ShotLink to tell you that’s a drop-off. That’s falling out of a hot-air balloon without the basket.
Penalties, Hammers, and A Whole Lot of Self-Sabotage
BAY’s Season 2 has been defined by penalties and missed opportunities rather than pure bad luck.
In their 7-4 loss to defending SoFi Cup champions Atlanta Drive GC, BAY lost two Triples holes when both Ludvig Åberg and Wyndham Clark found the penalty area on No. 2 (Pick Yer Plunder) and No. 8 (Temple). They earned three of their four points only when ATL declined Hammers.
Then came the 9-1 beating from Boston Common Golf, featuring penalties on four different holes. When you’re relying on your opponents to say “no thanks” to Hammers just to keep the score respectable, your season is in bother.
Meet The Line-Ups: Youth, Power and A Ton Of Ball Speed
The Bay Golf Club
- Luke Clanton*
- Neal Shipley*
- Min Woo Lee
Los Angeles Golf Club
- Tony Finau*
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Sahith Theegala
(* denotes alternates in this match)
BAY’s Season 2 notes read like a reboot: because of scheduling, Luke Clanton and Neal Shipley will make their TGL debuts as alternates. It’s a bold move – a pair of rookies stepping into a format that already has Theegala holing chips and Fleetwood carving fairways like he’s being paid by the yardage book.
Min Woo Lee: Fastest Gun In The League
If there’s one man who can turn this thing into a long-drive exhibition, it’s Min Woo Lee. In BAY’s loss to Boston Common Golf on Jan. 26, Lee:
- Set new driving distance records on two holes:
- 343.8 yards on No. 2 (Bonnie Link)
- 302.3 yards on No. 8 (The Plank)
- Hit into the penalty area on No. 1 (Straight Up) and No. 5 (Cenote)
This is the full “Ferrari with bald tyres” experience.
Across his TGL career:
- No. 1 in Avg Drive Ball Speed at 185.1 mph
- No. 2 in Avg Driver Swing Speed at 127.5 mph
- Led the league in Season 1 in Avg Driving Distance (332.0 yds) and Avg Drive Ball Speed (190.3 mph)
He’s also one of only two players, along with Collin Morikawa, to have hit 100% of their fairways, and one of two alongside Theegala to have holed two or more chips from off the green. The talent is not the issue; keeping the ball out of the penalty area is.
Match note: Lee will tee off on Bonnie Link in the final hole of Singles against Theegala – the same hole where he unleashed that 343.8-yard drive earlier this season in Match 6. If you’re the sort who enjoys mayhem, that’s your hole.
Clanton & Shipley: The New Blood
Luke Clanton makes his TGL debut as an alternate in his first full PGA TOUR season, having earned his card through the PGA TOUR University Accelerated program in 2025.
Clanton’s credentials:
- Three top-five PGA TOUR finishes as an amateur in 2024:
- T2 – John Deere Classic
- 5th – Wyndham Championship
- T2 – The RSM Classic
- Three-time All-American at Florida State University (2023, 2024, 2025)
- 2024 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked male in the World Amateur Golf Ranking
Match note: Clanton will hit the team’s first tee shot on No. 1 (Alpine) and will face Tony Finau in Singles. Nothing like making your debut by staring down one of the most complete ball-strikers in TGL.
Neal Shipley also debuts as an alternate, entering his first full PGA TOUR season after earning his card via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025, where he won both the LECOM Suncoast Classic (Florida) and The Ascendant presented by Blue (Colorado).
Shipley’s highlights:
- Low Amateur at both the Masters and U.S. Open in 2024
- Runner-up to Nick Dunlap in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club
- Two-time All-American at Ohio State University (2023, 2024)
Match notes: Shipley will tee off on No. 5 (Set in Stone) from 110 yards, No. 8 (Stinger) and No. 11 (Cut the Sails). He’ll face Fleetwood in Singles – which is a bit like your first day at school being a pop quiz on nuclear physics.
The SoFi Cup Math: Why This Match Matters
In TGL, the scoring is simple enough:
- Win in regulation or Overtime = 2 points
- Overtime loss = 1 point
The top four teams in the SoFi Cup standings advance to the playoffs. When teams finish level on points, the tiebreakers are:
- Total Holes Won in the regular season
- If still tied, Singles Holes Won
Right now, that’s making things very cosy at the top:
- ATL and BOS are tied on 4 points and 15 Total Holes Won. ATL sit No. 1 because they have more Singles Holes Won (8) than BOS (7).
- JUP are third with 13 Total Holes Won, ahead of New York (NY) and LA on 11 each.
- NY and LA are tied on 2 points and 11 Total Holes Won, but NY hold No. 4 thanks to more Singles Holes Won (5) than LA (4).
That leaves LA at 1-1-0 and The Bay Golf Club at 0-2-0. LA are one win away from joining Atlanta Drive GC and Boston Common Golf as the only teams with two victories this season. BAY are one more defeat away from turning this into a full-blown crisis.
By The Numbers: TGL California Showdown
A few tasty nuggets before the first ball is struck:
- Ludvig Åberg (BAY) – 60.0% driving accuracy, 324.2-yard average, 359.9-yard longest drive, Singles record 2-3-5.
- Wyndham Clark (BAY) – 63.6% driving accuracy, 328.3-yard average, 371.5-yard maximum, Singles 6-4-4.
- Tony Finau (LA) – 75.0% driving accuracy, 316.1-yard average, Singles 1-1-0.
- Sahith Theegala (LA) – 319.2 yards off the tee on average with a longest drive of 335.0 yards, Singles 7-4-3, and a highlight reel of clutch chips – including that 20’2” dagger on Fallen Pine.
- Tommy Fleetwood (LA) – 85.7% driving accuracy, 299.1-yard average, Singles 3-1-4, and precisely the sort of player you’d want if you were designing a SoFi Center golfer in a lab.
Final Predictions
The Bay is in desperation mode. Going down 0 – 3 – 0 on the season would most likely end their postseason aspirations, and so with it would go their chances of redeeming last season’s playoffs collapse after being one of the best teams in the league during the 2025 season. Throwing two brand new golfers into the mix on the same match is a desperation tactic, but it very well may pay off as we’ve seen substitute golfers handle themselves with ease this season.
Tommy Fleetwood is without a doubt the best golfer on either side by a long shot. Los Angeles will thrive or die by the performances of Finau and Theegala who have not inspired much confidence in past showings.
We like the Bay to pull off the upset and see one, or both, of Clanton and Shipley make a name for themselves the way Chris Gotterup and Michael Thorbjornsen have in Season 2!
Monday Night At SoFi: California, Chaos and A Season On The Line
Season 2, Match 8 goes off on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and the ESPN App. The Bay Golf Club are trying to rediscover the clinical machine that steamrolled Season 1. LA are trying to cement their status as one of TGL’s most complete teams while dragging their short-putt stats back into polite society.
It’s North versus South, rookies versus rock stars, and one winless heavyweight trying to convince everyone that last season wasn’t a mirage.
Whichever way it goes, expect big drives, bigger swings in momentum, and at least one moment where you find yourself saying: “They did what on a par-something with a name like Fallen Pine?”
