Boston Common Golf clinched a spot in the playoffs — after finishing last in TGL in the league’s first season — while New York Golf Club had a night to forget, going 0-2 Tuesday night at the SoFi Center.
Boston Common defeated New York 9-2 in the second of two matches Tuesday, matching its franchise-high for points in the season two debut for Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott.
The turnaround is complete for Boston Common after they went winless in TGL’s first season and are now playoff-bound.
“We’re (going to) have a (Samuel Adams beer) back there and celebrate Boston,” Keegan Bradley said. “It’s such an honour for me to play for this city and this region. I grew up dying to play for a Boston sports team, and to do it now means everything to me.”
The Bay Golf Club also defeated New York earlier Tuesday, 5-3, keeping its season alive.
In the first of two matches, The Bay won the first three holes in a row to get off to a quick 3-0 lead. New York won the fourth hole of the early match to trim the lead to 3-1, the eighth hole to push it to 3-2, and then Matt Fitzpatrick defeated Wyndham Clark in singles to tie the match at 3-3 through 11 holes.
Alas, Ludvig Aberg and Clark won hole Nos. 13 and 14 — with Clark hitting his tee shot on the par-3 14th to just a couple of feet — to push The Bay into the winners’ circle.
“I think we got off to a hot start. We played pretty well the first couple of holes to kind of get a lead early on and were able to sort of dodge a few bullets down the way, but managed to ride it out and win the match,” Aberg said.
The victory by The Bay guaranteed Atlanta Drive GC a playoff spot, as they remain in first place overall in TGL and hope to successfully defend their opening-season championship.
The first of two matches Tuesday night also featured a first in TGL — a video review that wiped a hammer throw off the board.
When the match was tied 3-3, The Bay threw the hammer on No. 13 with Xander Schauffele in a greenside bunker and Aberg facing a 12-foot birdie try. New York declined, but a video review showed Schauffele had already addressed the ball when the hammer was thrown. Schauffele then had to play the shot, but would go on to lose the hole regardless.
The quick turnaround for New York was tough on the squad as it couldn’t get any momentum going in their second match of the day — a lopsided defeat against Boston Common.
“Struggled to kind of really get anything going. Couldn’t really get any momentum. That was a big thing,” Rickie Fowler said.
On the flip side, Boston Common has had a complete turnaround from its inaugural TGL campaign and will look to make a tidy run in the playoffs.
“I think last season was really tough. This year, we’re just playing so much better. Our team, top to bottom, is just so strong. We came out today, this is as good a match as I’ve been a part of from the first hole to the last hole,” Bradley said.
“I think we’ve been putting the work in, and this means a lot to us. We want to go out there and win these matches, and we’re showing that this year.”
The match was fairly back-and-forth early, with New York winning the first hole but Boston Common getting it right back on No. 2. New York then won the fifth hole before Boston Common got it back again on No. 6.
From there, Boston Common was off to the races, winning all of Nos. 6-10.
Scott put the match well out of reach with a two-point victory on No. 13 after New York threw the hammer to try to kickstart a late charge on the scoreboard.
Matsuyama and Scott didn’t seem rusty Tuesday night despite not having played any TGL matches so far in 2026. Scott was coming into the week after a top-five finish at The Genesis Invitational, where he had had his best putting performance on the PGA Tour since 2024. He was also shown to be averaging 189 m.p.h. ball speed with the driver — not bad for a 45-year-old.
Per the TGL statistical gurus, Scott’s performance Tuesday night was one of the best individual performances ever in the SoFi Center. His approach shot on No. 6 and tee shot on No. 7 both led to birdies, he made an 11-foot birdie of his own on No. 8 and went 2-0 in singles.
“Once I got one (putt) to go in, I felt a little more comfortable, calmed down, and yeah, the boys, we were rolling tonight,” Scott said.
“I was really pleased because I didn’t win a match at all last year, and these two guys next to me really pulled us through today,” Matsuyama added.
At 1-3, New York still has an outside chance at making the playoffs and attempting a run to the SoFi Cup finale like in season one. There are just three matches left before the post-season, with Boston Common returning Sunday night for its final match of the regular season (against Jupiter Links) and New York playing Monday against Los Angeles Golf Club.
“We’ve been in a similar position before, so we’re still alive,” Fowler said. “We can have some fun next week.”
