Billy Horschel was the man of the moment as Atlanta Drive GC beat New York Golf Club in the first match of the TGL final.
The score was 2-2 after the first nine holes, in which the two teams competed as triples, so it all came down to the singles matchups.
Horschel played the 11th and 14th holes against Rickie Fowler, with the TGL hammer laid down in the former, and won both to claim three points.
These were crucial as Atlanta only won by one point (6-5) to take a 1-0 series lead into the second match on Tuesday night.
Billy Horschel sends message to golf journalist Kyle Porter after TGL final victory
Horschel was fired up throughout the contest and took the post-match interview as an opportunity to call out golf journalist Kyle Porter.
That’s because Porter wrote the following in his preview of the TGL final: “This is a fun matchup. Fowler is second in the league in strokes gained ball-striking this year, behind only Wyndham Clark (who I believe is the league MVP).
“Nobody won more Singles points than Horschel in the regular season (8), but I’ll roll with Rickie, who was excellent in the Semifinal.”
Horschel clearly didn’t like that Porter predicted him to lose this matchup and all previous ones throughout the competition.
He told TGL: “I love going head-to-head with someone; it’s who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the victory. Then there’s a guy by the name of Kyle Porter, who has picked against me the entire year in the singles portion.
“Up until last week, I had won every one of them. Obviously, Min Woo [Lee] made a putt the second time we played at hole number 14 to beat me but yeah, I’m very well aware when people are picking against me.
“I want to prove them wrong, and I want to beat the person I’m going against as badly as ever at that moment. So, Kyle Porter, please pick against me tomorrow.”
Dan Rapaport picks the ‘big stars’ of TGL season one
Another golf journalist, Dan Rapaport, shared his verdict on the biggest stars of the 2025 TGL season after Atlanta’s victory over New York.
“Billy Horschel, JT, Tom Kim, Wyndham Clark, Shane Lowry the big stars of TGL Season 1 for me,” he wrote on X. “Xander’s been great tonight too.
“I’m a fan of this, I think it’s different enough from normal golf that it’s a totally separate offering. Will get better next year too.”
TGL has certainly divided opinion but there’s no doubt that it’s been enjoyable to see Horschel and others have showcase their personalities.
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