Seven Becomes Zero: Jupiter Links Snaps Atlanta Drive's Streak for Its First Win, 8-6

Late on Monday night, with Jupiter up six, Kevin Kisner turned to Justin Thomas, who was in street clothes on Atlanta's bench, and asked about the streak. "What is it now?" Kisner wanted to know. "Seven," Thomas answered. Then, a beat later: "Zero."

That was the night in a sentence. Jupiter Links Golf Club, winless in 2026 and owner of a five-match losing streak dating to last season, beat defending champion Atlanta Drive GC 8-6 at SoFi Center on Feb. 2, 2026. Jupiter ended Atlanta's seven-match winning streak and got itself back into the playoff conversation, and the final margin flattered the champs. Jupiter led 8-2 with two holes to play.

"We're having fun. We're scoring points. We're thumping the defending champs. I think Jup Links is officially back," Max Homa said, per the PGA TOUR recap (opens in a new tab).

So much for that idea

Jupiter again played Homa, Kisner and Akshay Bhatia, with Tiger Woods and Tom Kim inactive. Atlanta went with Billy Horschel, Chris Gotterup and Lucas Glover, the first appearance of the season for Glover, with Thomas still sidelined.

The start looked like more of the same for Jupiter. Gotterup opened the night with a 374-yard drive, the longest in TGL history. It found a bunker, and Atlanta won the hole anyway. Woods, interviewed between the first and second holes, said Jupiter's plan had been to get out to an early lead, then added, "So much for that idea." Atlanta won the second as well and led 2-0.

It would have been easy for a winless team to fold right there. Instead, Jupiter ripped off five straight points.

Five straight and a first

The run started at the par-3 third, "Cenote." Kisner's tee shot set up a birdie chance, while Horschel's went into the penalty area, and Atlanta conceded to make it 2-1.

The fourth was Atlanta's own Team Hole, "Fore-O-Fore," the hole a TGL highlight caption had joked the Drive could not lose. Jupiter played it almost perfectly, made birdie and won it to tie the match 2-2.

At the par-3 fifth, "Oh Chute," Homa's tee shot set up another birdie and Jupiter's first lead of the night. At the par-4 sixth, "The Plank," Bhatia chipped close and Homa rolled in the birdie putt for a 4-2 lead.

At the par-3 seventh, "The Last Toll," Bhatia's tee shot put Jupiter in position again. Jupiter threw the Hammer, Atlanta declined, and Jupiter led 5-2. It was the first time the club had ever scored five points in a match, and the five straight holes were the first time Jupiter had won more than two in a row.

The ninth produced a double Hammer. Atlanta threw first, Jupiter threw it right back, and the hole ended halved with Bhatia pulling off a standout bunker shot. Jupiter took a 5-2 lead into Singles, the first time in club history it had led after Triples.

Kisner seals it

Bhatia opened Singles with a birdie at the par-5 10th, "The Spear," to beat Gotterup for a 6-2 lead.

At the 12th, Atlanta tried to force the issue. Thomas, from the bench, threw the Hammer at Kisner before the tee shots, a bold call with Horschel, the league's best Singles player, on the tee. Horschel then found a bunker, Kisner made par, and Jupiter took both points for an 8-2 lead. With three holes left and Atlanta down six, the match was effectively over. That is when Kisner asked about the streak.

Atlanta did make it interesting on paper. Glover nearly aced the par-3 "On the Rocks" at the 14th and tapped in for birdie to make it 8-3. At the 15th, with two Hammers in play, Horschel beat Kisner for three points, making the final 8-6. All three of Atlanta's Hammer points came on that last hole, after the outcome had been settled.

Horschel, whose 11-2-5 Singles record is still the best in the league, was gracious afterward. "All three of them played really good tonight. There was no weak link," he said.

It was also a measure of revenge. The last time these clubs met, in the final match of the 2025 regular season, Atlanta beat Jupiter 9-1 on its way to the playoffs and the first SoFi Cup. Jupiter finished that season 1-4, with its only win coming in overtime. This time the roles flipped, and the club that had been the league's punchline in its own way got to enjoy a night of chirping at the champs.

Woods, for his part, spent the night coaching from the bench while he recovers from back surgery, and the result gave him something he had not had in a while as a TGL owner: a celebration. Jupiter's season goals had not changed since his "no more sequels" line on the night of the New York match. Monday was the first time the club delivered on them.

The Hammer flip

The most surprising part of the night was who won the Hammer battle. Atlanta has been the top Hammer scoring team in the league across two seasons. Jupiter had been the worst. On Monday, Jupiter took the meaningful Hammer points, one when Atlanta declined at the seventh and two when Kisner beat Horschel at the 12th, while Atlanta's Hammer points came only once the match was out of reach.

That flip is what separated this from Jupiter's first two nights. Against New York, Jupiter let a 3-1 lead slip after a shot clock penalty. Against Los Angeles, it accepted a Hammer late that cost it the match. Against Atlanta, it threw at the right moments, refused to blink when Atlanta threw at the 12th, and even fired back on the double Hammer at the ninth.

The three players also finally played like a unit. Bhatia delivered the tee shot at the seventh, the chip at the sixth, the bunker shot at the ninth and the Singles point at the 10th. Homa hit the tee shot at the fifth and made the putt at the sixth. Kisner won the Hammer hole that put it away. Horschel's "no weak link" line was accurate.

For Atlanta, the loss is less alarming than the score suggests. The Drive started fast, lost a stretch of holes in Triples it usually wins, and ran into a team that was simply better on the night. Glover's season debut produced the near ace, and Gotterup's record drive was a fun footnote. But Horschel's penalty-area tee shot at the third and his bunker at the 12th were uncharacteristic, and Atlanta's Team Hole finally gave up a point.

Standings and what's next

Jupiter improved to 1-2 and pulled back into the playoff mix in a five-match season. With two regular season matches left, against Boston Common and The Bay, Jupiter has a real path to a top-four spot, something that looked unlikely after two lopsided losses. Atlanta fell to 2-1. Boston Common remains unbeaten at 2-0, Los Angeles and New York are 1-1, and The Bay is 0-2.

Next up, The Bay meets Los Angeles at 7 p.m. ET on Feb. 9. Jupiter returns at 9 p.m. ET on March 1 against Boston Common. Atlanta closes its regular season with a Feb. 23 doubleheader, against Boston at 5 p.m. ET and Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET.

Jupiter's earlier losses, 8-3 to New York and 8-4 to Los Angeles, and Atlanta's 7-4 win over The Bay are recapped on Undrafted. The official match page is on tglgolf.com (opens in a new tab).

Sources: TGL, PGA TOUR, ESPN. More TGL coverage on Undrafted.

Seven became zero, and Jupiter finally has a number of its own: one.

Photo: TGL.