Tommy Fleetwood Answers Billy Horschel's Jab as Los Angeles Beats Atlanta Drive 7-3

Billy Horschel could not believe what he was seeing. Los Angeles Golf Club, facing an Atlanta Hammer at the ninth, chose to concede the hole rather than let Tommy Fleetwood hit his approach. "One of the best irons players in the world and you decline that?" Horschel needled from the Atlanta side. "What was that? Come on Tommy!"

Fleetwood got the last laugh. He chipped in at the 11th, rolled in an eight-foot birdie for two points at the 14th to close it out, and Los Angeles Golf Club beat Atlanta Drive GC 7-3 in the nightcap of a Monday doubleheader at SoFi Center on Feb. 23, 2026. LA jumped into second place in the standings, and Atlanta, which had beaten Boston Common earlier in the evening, finished its regular season with a split.

"It's the best, right? Love my teammates. Love being part of the team," Fleetwood said, per the PGA TOUR recap (opens in a new tab).

Together at last, and in front from the start

Los Angeles rolled out Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Fleetwood. Atlanta played its second match of the night with Horschel, Patrick Cantlay and Lucas Glover, resting Justin Thomas and Chris Gotterup after they had helped beat Boston a few hours earlier.

LA never trailed. Morikawa made birdie at the first for a 1-0 lead. Atlanta made bogey at the second, and LA went up 2-0. A par at the third, "The Last Toll," was enough for 3-0.

After a pair of halved holes, the sixth turned into another Atlanta mess. Glover found the penalty area for the second time on the night, and Los Angeles made an easy birdie to go up 4-0.

Fleetwood summed up the start neatly. "Nice to get off to a nice little rhythm, good flow," he said.

Atlanta pushes, LA declines

Atlanta finally got on the board with a par at the seventh to make it 4-1, but gave the point straight back at the eighth for a 5-1 deficit.

At the ninth, Atlanta tried to get something going with the Hammer. Los Angeles declined, giving up one point rather than risk two with Fleetwood still to hit his approach, which set off Horschel's rant. LA took a 5-2 lead into Singles.

The Hammer decision drew all the attention, but it was a defensible call. Declining guaranteed LA a three-point cushion going into Singles, while accepting and losing the hole would have cut it to 5-3. The scoreboard over the next five holes said it worked out.

There was a little slapstick too. At "Cenote," Horschel tossed his driver after a tee shot and accidentally clipped Morikawa, which drew a laugh from both benches.

Fleetwood closes the door

Atlanta had a great chance to cut into the lead at the 10th, "The Spear," when Rose put his tee shot in the water. Rose saved par to halve the hole, and it stayed 5-2.

The 11th was the moment Atlanta needed and did not get. Cantlay tapped in for birdie and Atlanta expected a point, but Fleetwood chipped in from off the green for a three to halve it. That kept LA up three with four holes to play.

Atlanta did get a point at the 12th, throwing the Hammer and watching Los Angeles decline again, which made it 5-3. After a halved 13th, LA used its own Hammer at the 14th, and Atlanta accepted. Cantlay missed his birdie try, Fleetwood rolled in the eight-footer for two points, and Los Angeles led 7-3 with one hole left. The 15th was halved for the final.

Horschel did not dress it up. "We just didn't play very well. We hit some bad shots and bad short game shots. Unfortunately, it happens," he said.

The numbers behind it

Los Angeles built the win in Triples, taking four of the first six holes while Atlanta kept finding trouble. LA threw just one Hammer, at the 14th, and cashed it for two. Atlanta threw two Hammers and got two points from LA declining both, which is a fair return, but its Triples start, three straight lost holes and the Glover penalty, left too much ground to make up.

Fleetwood was the closer. He chipped in at the 11th to keep Atlanta from gaining ground and made the clinching birdie at the 14th. Morikawa's opening birdie set the tone, and Rose's par save at the 10th after a ball in the water was quietly one of the most important shots of the night.

For Atlanta, the night was a split. The Drive beat Boston Common 5-2 in the opener and then had little left for the nightcap with a different lineup. Cantlay was steady all evening, but Glover struggled, and the Drive never forced Los Angeles into a hard decision until it was already down four.

Two seasons in one night

The doubleheader format also showed how differently these clubs have used their rosters. Atlanta used five different players across its two matches on Monday, with Cantlay the only one to play both. Thomas and Gotterup were key against Boston and then watched from the bench as Horschel and Glover joined Cantlay for the nightcap. It is the kind of rotation a club can afford when it has a deep roster and a playoff spot nearly in hand, but it also meant the group that took the floor against LA had not played together all season.

Los Angeles has rotated plenty too. It opened with Rose, Morikawa and Sahith Theegala in a 7-5 loss to Boston Common, used the same three to beat Jupiter Links 8-4 behind Rose's albatross, then sent Fleetwood, Theegala and Tony Finau out for an 11-5 loss to The Bay. Monday was the first time this season that LA put Rose, Morikawa and Fleetwood on the floor together, and the result looked like the club that won the 2025 regular season. If that is the trio LA brings into March, it will be a tough draw for anyone.

Atlanta's regular season, meanwhile, ended at 3-2 after a winter of patchwork lineups: wins over New York, The Bay and Boston Common, losses to Jupiter Links and Los Angeles. It was not the dominant title defense the 2025 run might have suggested, but the Drive leads the league in holes won, which is the first tiebreaker.

Standings and what's next

Los Angeles improved to 2-2 and moved into second place with four points and 21 holes won. Atlanta finished its regular season at 3-2 and remains in first place with six points and 23 holes won, a near-lock to make the playoffs for the second straight season. Boston Common is 2-1, and Jupiter Links, The Bay and New York sit behind with two points each. The top four advance.

Los Angeles still has one regular season match left, against New York on Monday, March 2. Tuesday, Feb. 24, brings another doubleheader, with New York facing The Bay at 5 p.m. ET and then Boston Common at 9 p.m. ET.

One more LA note: Michelle Wie West, a five-time LPGA winner, is an investor in the club, and the PGA TOUR noted that she will soon play in WTGL, the women's version of the league.

Atlanta's 5-2 win over Boston Common earlier in the night and LA's previous match, an 11-5 loss to The Bay, are recapped on Undrafted, as is last season's meeting, a 6-5 Atlanta win in overtime. The official match page is on tglgolf.com (opens in a new tab).

Sources: TGL, PGA TOUR, Pro Golf Now. More TGL coverage on Undrafted.

Horschel wanted to know why Los Angeles would decline with Fleetwood holding the club. By the end of the night, Fleetwood had answered him twice.

Photo: TGL.