Patrick Cantlay looked a little like the strange man out at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida on Tuesday night.
The quiet demeanor he displayed throughout his golf career didn’t necessarily fit with the flashing lights, noisy fans and high-tech golf simulators that make up the SoFi Center. He walked out behind Billy Horschel, who pulled out a huge silver chain from under his shirt and did the “Dirty Bird” dance a little while ago, without much laughter.
But Justin Thomas said late in the game that Cantlay was “our voice of reason.” He even stopped them from throwing hammers, saying, “It will only harm us.” This left Thomas incredibly disappointed on the final green. But it seemed to work out well for the Atlanta Drive GC trio.
They recorded a very convincing 4-0 win over Rickie Fowler and the New York Golf Club on Tuesday in the third week of the TGL season. This moves them to 1-0 on the year while NYGC falls to 0-2. It was the first shutout game in TGL history.
NYGC’s struggles continued this week after a Week 1 loss to Bay Golf Club, which they won 9-2 in their first event earlier this month. Cameron Young quickly fell behind after missing the landing zone on the hourglass-themed hole to start the night, while Fowler went over the chipping green on the fourth hole and landed in a bunker. Atlanta pushed its lead to two strokes with Thomas’ approach with about 6 feet left on the sixth hole.
Atlanta took a 2-0 lead in the triple section on the night.
Thomas held the advantage over Young on two single holes. He attempted a birdie on the par-5 10th, then hit a drive on the 13th (though Young still outpaced him) but made a deep birdie putt that rattled around the back of the hole and left Thomas grimacing. Green to tie.
Horschel followed in the 11th after Matt Fitzpatrick landed in a pair of bunkers and earned a penalty to push Atlanta’s lead to four points. The two tied for 14th place. Cantlay tied Fowler on the first hole and then stayed tied on the final hole to secure a shutout victory. They made 65-foot putts all night long.
It may not have been as exciting as the first two weeks of the new business, but Thomas and his Atlanta crew got things done Tuesday night. Tiger Woods will lead next week in the second game of the season.
Nonetheless, the Atlanta team got off to a good start. And Cantlay, despite a slow start amidst the excitement that is TGL, rocked the chains by the end of the night. But that dance will have to wait.
“I knew JT was going to be with me,” Horschel said before hitting Dirty Bird once again on ESPN. “Whether he can mount it on a PC or not… he’s a team player. He always has been and always will be.”
