Shane Lowry was voted the most valuable player as Bay Golf Club ran out 5-3 winners over New York GC, climbing to fourth in the standings before Boston Common, without Rory McIlroy, made it back-to-back defeats for NYGC at the SoFi Centre.
Lowry, playing in the anchor position for Bay, holed an 11-footer for birdie on the first to give Bay an early advantage, and after a Bay hammer was declined on two, Ludvig Aberg sank from similar distance on the third to send Bay GC into a commanding 3-0 lead.
New York wins on four and eight reduced the deficit to the minimum entering singles play, and when Matt Fitzpatrick took down Wyndham Clark on hole 11, the match was tied once again.
Aberg restored Bay’s lead with victory on the 13th, and when Bay GC threw a hammer with Clark facing a short birdie putt on the penultimate hole, New York passed, meaning they’d have to throw a hammer on the tee on the final hole and hope that Rickie Fowler would take down Lowry.
The pair halved the concluding hole, and Bay GC moved into fourth place and boosted their playoff hopes considerably.
For Lowry, it was a particularly sweet victory as his daughter, who is a regular in TGL attendance, was celebrating her birthday and had all of her friends present.
“Yeah, we talked about it, Wendy and I, a few weeks ago,” Lowry said. “She loves it here, and her friends love it, as well. They come whenever I’m playing. Then we played Boston here one night, and Keegan had his son’s birthday party here.
“Thankfully everyone at TGL was accommodating, and we brought all her friends here. There’s no chance she’ll come out and watch me at the Cognizant this week, but she’ll come to TGL because she gets to be on TV. She loves it. She’s a big fan of TGL.”
In the second match, McIlroy took a back seat as Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott made their season debuts for Boston Common, and they compounded New York GC’s misery by storming to a 9-2 win, lifting them back to the top of the standings by virtue of holes won as they are tied with defending champions Atlanta Drive.
Jupiter Links have two matches remaining, while Bay GC, L.A. GC, and New York GC each have one and it’s between those four to wrap up the final two places for the playoffs which will feature a semi-final double-header on St. Patrick’s Day.
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