Åberg steals the show

This year’s Genesis was the perfect mix of excitement, big names, underdogs, and a thrilling finish for one of the Tour’s signature events.

The final round of this tournament was one of the best final rounds we’ve seen so far this season! Scottie Scheffler has come into the tournament as the favorite, but after a disastrous 3rd round 76, he had put himself 5 shots back and seemingly out of contention. Patrick Rodgers had a commanding 2-stroke lead going into the final round, with big names like McIlroy and JT (5 strokes back), Fleetwood and Finau (4 back), and Åberg (2 back) trailing behind him. He had a conservative 1-under final round, but left the door open for others to steal the show. Maverick McNealy played some impeccable golf on Sunday and seemed to have won the tournament outright with a final round 64, giving him a comfortable lead over the rest of the pack. McNealy looked like he just could not miss out there, and many folks would have put the mortgage on him winning the whole thing!

Coming off of a week-long illness and starting the week as a +4000 longshot, Åberg still found himself somewhat in reach of the win. Åberg, the Swedish machine, saw the leaderboards scattered on the course and knew what he had to do — and he did it. Åberg birdied four of his last six holes, and made an absolutely clutch two-putt from 74 feat to steal the win from McNealy and one by one stroke with a score of 12-under!

Åberg is just so much fun to watch. He’s got a fast pace of play, a cool but confident attitude, and I’m not sure if he ever stopped smiling between shots. His simple golf swing and his equally-as-simple approach to the game are something to marvel at. He had his eyes on the prize the whole time, didn’t let the rare mis-hit shake his confidence, and just got the job done.

TGL Triple-Header

TGL unveiled a new and improved hammer rule, where each team starts off with 3 hammers that they could use whenever they liked. This proved to be an excellent decision, as it was a catalyst for 3 exciting and nail-biting matches that took place all day today on President’s Day. Tomorrow Tiger’s Jupiter Links GC tees off against Cam Young and the NY GC. Rosters and schedules can be found here.

Match 1: Atlanta GC (6) vs LA GC (5)

Atlanta GC made an incredible come-from-behind victory in this match. On the 8th hole, Tommy Fleetwood bombed a drive up onto the par-4 8th green (where he made an ace earlier in practice!!) to put LAGC up 3-2. Fleetwood then seemingly sealed the deal on the 11th where he stuck another approach close to put LA up by 3. But Atlanta didn’t give up without a fight, getting within one on the 13th hole. Fleetwood would continue to hold off Atlanta with an almost 18-foot birdie putt to tie the hole. But the real action came on the final 15th hole, with Atlanta down by one, JT duffs a chip that rolls back toward his feet. Immediately after, JT comes back with a chip-in to force overtime. In OT, Fleetwood kept the action going with a chip-in to force a 3rd playoff round, where Atlanta would ultimately win.

Match 2: Bay GC (6) vs Atlanta GC (5)

The Bay GC got off to a hot start, winning 4 out of its first 7 holes. But, once again, Atlanta didn’t give up. ATL used the new hammer rule to their advantage and kept it a ball game heading into the singles matches with a chip-in from about 27 feet! Wyndham Clark won the first singles match but JT kept things interesting with a 2-point hammer-fueled win on his own, tying up the match. Wyndham Clark immediately responded with an absolute dart to win the next hole. Åberg and Glover both showed off on the 14th hole with absolute darts, tying that hole. On the final hole, Justin Thomas had a long putt that turned nearly 90 degrees to go to another OT, but just hardly missed.

Match 3: Bay GC (5) vs Boston Commons GC (4)

Boston started off strong with hammering the first hole and winning for an early 2-0 lead. But The Bay responded with their own wins, hammering and winning holes three and five, to put them up by one point. The rest of the triples matches stayed square heading into the exciting singles matches. Keegan Bradley started things off hot with a clutch chip-in to win the first singles match, but his momentum was soon slowed by Åberg beating McIlroy on the very next hole. Keegan Bradley tied up the match on the 13th hole with another singles win, and Åberg and McIlroy would tie the 14th to make things all square going into the final hole. Matsuyama and Wyndham both faced long eagle putts to win the match. Matsuyama’s putt just hardly squeaked by and left the door open for Wyndham. Clark was a bit rushed as he stepped up to the ball and Boston called a time-out to ice him (in hindsight, it probably helped him as he had less than 10 seconds to hit the ball). Clark overcame the nerves and drilled the putt into the center of the cup, giving The Bay a win over Boston and continues their undefeated season.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to sharing some more of my thoughts later in the week!