Cantlay's Hammer and Horschel's Birdie Send Atlanta Drive to the Playoffs, 6-3 Over Boston Common

For nine holes, Boston Common Golf looked like a team finally ready to cash a check. Then Patrick Cantlay put a tee ball three feet from the cup on the 12th, Atlanta Drive GC picked up the Hammer, and the whole night tilted. Atlanta won the Singles session 5-1, beat Boston Common Golf 6-3 on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and punched its ticket to the first TGL playoffs.

Billy Horschel delivered the knockout with a birdie on the par-3 14th. Justin Thomas supplied the noise. Cantlay supplied the calm. It was a tidy summary of what this Atlanta team has become: three very different personalities who have figured out how to share one simulator bay.

Boston Owned the Triples

This was the nightcap of a Monday doubleheader, and the opener had already shuffled the table. Los Angeles Golf Club erased a 4-0 deficit through 11 holes and beat New York Golf Club 5-4 in overtime, a result that locked up spots for both Los Angeles and The Bay Golf Club. Atlanta walked in knowing a win would join them.

Atlanta rolled out Thomas, Horschel and Cantlay, with Lucas Glover sitting. Boston went with Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Hideki Matsuyama, with Adam Scott inactive. On paper, Boston's trio had as much firepower as anyone in the building.

McIlroy announced it on the first hole. His wedge from 29 feet hit the flagstick and stayed out, the kind of near miss that would have been a 1-0 lead and a statement. Instead the hole was halved, and Atlanta struck first on the par-5 second, the hole TGL calls Sterling. Thomas and Horschel teamed up on an up-and-down for birdie, and Atlanta led 1-0.

Boston answered with two straight. McIlroy hit a strong bunker shot to set up the point on the fourth, and Boston took the fifth as well to go up 2-1. Every other hole in the alternate-shot session was halved, six in all, which tells you how tight the first nine played. Matsuyama nearly blew it open on the ninth, but his 21-foot chip slid by the hole. A make would have sent Boston to the turn up 3-1. Instead it was 2-1, a lead, but a thin one.

The Hammer Hole

Singles flipped the script quickly. Thomas and Bradley halved the 10th. On the 11th, Matsuyama had a rough time out of the greenside sand, and Horschel took the point to tie the match 2-2.

Then came the swing of the night. On the par-3 12th, Cantlay stuck his tee shot to three feet. McIlroy missed the green, just off the edge. With that picture in front of them, Atlanta threw the Hammer, and Boston accepted. McIlroy came within a whisker of chipping in to steal a halve, but the ball did not drop and he could not save par. Cantlay cleaned up the birdie, and the hole paid double. Atlanta 4, Boston 2, three holes to play.

It was a reminder of how the Hammer can punish the wrong read. Accepting a Hammer when your opponent is three feet away and you are not on the green is a bet that something special happens. Something nearly did. Nearly does not count in this league either.

Horschel Closes the Door

The 13th was a showcase hole without a scoreboard change. Thomas hit a gorgeous approach that settled about five feet away and rolled in the birdie, and Bradley matched it to keep the hole halved. Atlanta stayed up two.

That set the stage for Horschel on the par-3 14th. Matched against Matsuyama again, Horschel made birdie with the hole played for two points on a Hammer, and Atlanta moved to 6-2. With one hole left and no way for Boston to catch up, the match was over.

McIlroy took the 15th from Cantlay for Boston's only Singles point, which made the final 6-3 look a little friendlier than the Singles session felt. Atlanta won 5 of a possible 6 points across holes 10 through 15 and went two for two on Hammer holes. Boston, which arrived as the team with the most star power on the card, left without a single Hammer cashed.

Three Personalities, One Plan

The fun part of Atlanta is how openly the players describe their roles. Thomas, never shy on a microphone, put it plainly after the match. "I bring some emotion when I need it and Pat is probably our person keeping us within reason," he said. He added that he and Cantlay mostly let Horschel run the show and stay out of his way, which, judging by the Singles session, is a fine strategy.

Thomas also could not resist a bit of gamesmanship. As Bradley prepared to hit, Thomas offered some unsolicited caddie work. "I wouldn't take that line," Thomas told him. TGL lets players talk, and Atlanta talks as well as any team in the league.

When it was over, Horschel turned to team owner Arthur Blank with the line of the night: "Welcome to the playoffs!"

The numbers backed the vibe. Atlanta's longest drive measured 345 yards to Boston's 327, and Atlanta averaged 323 yards off the tee to Boston's 315. Atlanta also hit 60 percent of its fairways to Boston's 50 and made 75 percent of its putts inside 10 feet, compared with 60 percent for Boston. On a night when the scoreboard came down to three-footers and five-footers, that short-putt edge was the whole story in miniature.

Standings: Atlanta In, Boston on the Ropes

The win moved Atlanta to 3-1-0 and clinched a top-four finish. It was also a fitting response to a bumpy stretch: Atlanta beat New York 4-0 in January, beat Los Angeles in overtime on Presidents Day and then lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to The Bay later that same day. Monday was the answer to that loss.

Los Angeles sits atop the SoFi Cup Standings at 3-0-1, with The Bay unbeaten at 3-0-0 and Atlanta right behind. One playoff spot remains, and it belongs to one of New York (1-2-1), Jupiter Links Golf Club (1-2-0) or Boston (0-3-1). Boston is still mathematically alive, but it needs help from elsewhere to make it.

That is a long way from where the preseason hype had this team. Boston opened with an overtime loss to Jupiter Links, then fell to Los Angeles 6-2 and to The Bay 5-4. Add Monday and the pattern is hard to miss. The ball striking is there, the shotmaking is there, McIlroy's near misses are there, and the points are not. Boston has made a habit of losing close holes, and in a format that rewards seizing short windows, that is fatal.

Boston closes its regular season against New York on March 3. Atlanta finishes against Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club on March 4, with seeding still on the table. Jupiter and The Bay play on Tuesday night.

The Take

There are teams in TGL with more household names than Atlanta, and Boston was one of them. What Atlanta has is clarity. Cantlay does not waste shots. Horschel embraces the big moment and wants the ball on the hole that matters. Thomas keeps the energy high and the opponents talking. When the Hammer came out on the 12th, nobody on Atlanta's side hesitated, and nobody missed.

The first season of TGL has been a crash course in which skills translate to a screen and a GreenZone. Power helps. Wedges help. But the teams that win are the ones that make the short putt, read the Hammer correctly and do not give back holes. On Monday, Atlanta did all three, and it gets to play meaningful golf in March because of it.

For the full official breakdown, see the TGL match recap (opens in a new tab) and the PGA TOUR recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: TGL, PGA TOUR, ESPN, CBS Sports, Field Level Media, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sportskeeda. More TGL coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: TGL.