Los Angeles Golf Club and Jupiter Links both reached the TGL Championship for the first time this year after overcoming adversity in the semifinals. Misfortune would continue to find both teams in the first game of the championship series as the two teams battled to take an early advantage.
Los Angeles sent out Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, and Sahith Theegala as Collin Morikawa continues to recover from his back injury. Jupiter Links responded with Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner for the first match.
Triples
The match would begin quietly as both teams split the hole with a par on the first hole. Jupiter would then find themselves in a familiar position as they would drop the next hole after a great bunker shot from Rose and a birdie conversion from Fleetwood. Both teams' conservative approaches continued as no Hammers were thrown, and holes continued to be tied until the sixth.
Theegala battled his swing (and putter) all night, while gifting Jupiter the hole on two separate occasions. After finding the water on his tee shot, Jupiter allowed LAGC to stay in the hole when Kisner missed his six-foot putt. Theegala then wasted the opportunity by missing a three-footer that tied the match at one apiece. The next hole saw the same missed putt and same result as Fleetwood missed a three-footer to allow Jupiter to take a 2-1 lead.
On the eighth hole, Los Angeles would respond in a big way as their elder statesman, Justin Rose, would take matters into his own hands. After both teams would miss the green on their approach shots, Rose drained his chip from 35 feet out. This occurred much to the delight of his teammates, both of whom just missed their tap-in putts. On the final hole of Triples, Jupiter would use their first Hammer and bully Los Angeles into a point and take a 3-2 lead going into match play.
Singles
On the 10th hole, it was Jupiter's turn to miss a tap-in putt. Homa needed to convert a three-foot putt to halve the hole, but he would ultimately push the putt left, gifting LAGC a point. Los Angeles would then use their first Hammer of the match on the eleventh to take a 4-3 lead.
Theegala's poor play would continue on the 12th hole as he would find the water yet again on his tee shot. Kisner would make the best shot of his day, hitting his drive to six feet of the hole, which led Los Angeles to concede and tie the match at four with three holes remaining. Homa would redeem himself on his last hole of the night as he made a three-footer for birdie, winning the hole after Rose would miss his six-foot chance.
With a 5-4 lead, the match seemed all but over when Kim put his 9-iron to six feet of the hole. Jupiter would then throw a Hammer, which would have ended the match with a win. Los Angeles was forced to accept, and Fleetwood answered the call in a big way when he stuck his shot to within four feet of the hole. Both players made their birdie putts, which forced a must-win hole for Los Angeles on 15.
Los Angeles played their Hammer before the tee shot, making the hole worth two points. As a result, if Theegala defeated Kisner, LAGC would clinch the match. On the par-5, this hole was definitely more suited to Theegala's game, but he needed to hit the fairway off his drive.
After struggling for most of the night, he finally hit two great shots to give himself an eagle opportunity. On the other hand, Kisner would find the rough on his first two shots and left himself a 21-foot chip for birdie. Theegala would close the hole with a tap-in birdie, forcing Kisner to make his chip for Jupiter to win game 1. He would ultimately miss it just left, and Los Angeles completed the comeback and are now only one match away from winning the 2026 TGL Championship.
Tiger returns on Tuesday night
Tiger Woods is set to make a dramatic 2026 TGL debut in Game 2, with the possibility of also appearing in a decisive Game 3. After missing the last year with surgeries, Woods is returning to action to help lead his Jupiter team to victory.
Tom Kim and Max Homa will be joining Woods as they must win both matches to win the title. Los Angeles will be using the same lineup as they look to close out the series in two games. Game 2 takes place on Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00 PM EST, with game 3 to follow if necessary.