Justin Thomas stunned Rory McIlroy and the entire SoFi Centre with one of the luckiest bounces ever as his Atlanta Drive won their TGL semi-final against Min Woo Lee and The Bay Golf Club.
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On a par 5 dubbed ‘The Serpent’, Thomas’ second shot into the green appeared headed for the out of bounds as it sailed across the simulator screen, only to receive the lifeline a wicked bounce back into play.
Australian Lee could be heard repeatedly calling out “help us out here” as the ball sailed towards the out of bounds area, but upon receiving the reprieve Thomas turned to The Bay’s Shane Lowry and rubbed it in by saying “good things happen to good people, Shane”.
Commentator Matt Barrie labelled it “a bounce for the ages”, while Players champion Rory McIlroy was on the broadcast and was in disbelief as he called it “the luckiest bounce I’ve ever seen”.
Atlanta led 4-2 at the time, and Thomas went onto birdie the hole to better Lowry’s par in what was a crucial moment in their path to a convincing 9-3 victory against the second seed.
Atlanta will now face New York Golf Club in a best-of-three final next week after they upset league leaders Los Angeles Golf Club in the first semi-final on Tuesday morning Australian time.
The inaugural champions will share US$9 million in prize money, while the runners-up will split half that amount among them.
In their regular season encounter, New York failed to score a point against Atlanta, but Thomas expects things to be a little closer this time.
“They’re obviously starting to play well at the right time,” he said
“As you can see from our match tonight and all the matches, it seems to be totally different each night and what we’re getting in, and the group we get in.
“Obviously I like our team and I like our chances. I’m excited. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Lee was drafted into The Bay’s line-up less than 24 hours before the match as teammate Wyndham Clark withdrew from injury, and the Australian relished the opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing weekend at The Players Championship.
The 26-year-old was in a share of the lead at the halfway mark before falling away, and despite not getting the desired result, Lee showed his 190mph ball speed with driver, and was dialled-in with his approaches at the green.
He was the only member of The Bay team to win a hole during singles and he has been one of the hits of TGL debut season with his cheeky character coming through the microphones, and his incredible skills showcased by multiple chip-ins.
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