TGL presented by SoFi: BAY v LA
TGL

The playoff picture in the inaugural season of TGL is official. With two matches taking place at the SoFi Center on Monday evening, Los Angeles Golf Club locked up the regular-season title with a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the The Bay Golf Club while Boston Common Golf confirmed an early exit with a loss at the hands of New York Golf Club, which reigned supreme, 10-6.

Los Angeles and New York were both winners Monday night, and their rewards are a date with one another in the first round of the postseason. While the The Bay was unable to pull off an undefeated season and ultimately fell to the No. 2 seed, it will still have a great chance to raise the trophy as it takes on the Atlanta Drive in the other semifinal. 

With New York's win, not only is Rory McIlroy's Boston Common eliminated from playoff contention, so is Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links GC -- regardless of Tuesday night's result against Atlanta.

"It doesn't feel great," said Min Woo Lee of The Bay. "I think this is what it feels like to be on a team sport. You don't want to let anyone down. There was a couple shots where I felt like I left out. But you've got your teammates to back you up, too. We're looking forward to the playoffs, and hopefully we bring our good stuff there."

Let's take a look at how both matches shaped up Monday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Match 1 — LA: 5 | BAY: 3

The Bay brought the heat early winning three of the first six holes to gain a 3-0 lead. Lee's putter was clutch while Tommy Fleetwood's was cold inside 10 feet to give Wyndham Clark, Shane Lowry and Lee the quick advantage. The Bay used a hammer to lock up a point on No. 6 which proved to be its final of the match.

Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa were able to cut into the lead before singles with a win on No. 9. The tide turned on the next hole as Lee used a hammer against Fleetwood after the Englishman was out of position off the tee. Lee made the fatal mistake of hitting his second shot into the penalty area and gift wrapped two points to Los Angeles.

Theegala took over from there as he chipped in from off the green to steal a point on No. 12 and grab the lead for the first time all afternoon. He was put in the spotlight again on No. 15 where he applied pressure onto Clark who was unable to convert an 8-foot birdie giving Los Angeles a 5-3 triumph.

"Sahith made a really good point that Collin wanted to throw the hammer in on No. 9, and it gave us like a stress-free point when they declined it, and we just wanted to get a point on the board," Fleetwood said. "From there, momentum kind of switched.

"There was just that little point where our backs were against the wall. I hit a poor tee shot and Min Woo threw the hammer, and we had to accept it at that point. A half would have been great, and we ended up winning that hole and the momentum kept spiraling, and we did a great job of finishing the match off. Yeah, one of those, like -- just shows how quickly things can change in these matches, and happy to come out the right side of it."

Match 2 — NY: 10 | BOS: 6

A back-and-forth affair brewed in this one. New York grabbed a lead on the initial hole but fell behind a few holes later when Boston used the hammer to secure a point and Adam Scott chipped in to steal another. New York's hammer strategy -- or Boston's required aggressive nature given its perilous playoff position -- proved to be the differentiator throughout the match.

New York threw the hammer on No. 5 and cashed in on two points when Xander Schauffele converted a 6-foot birdie putt. A couple of concessions later, New York saw its lead grow to as many as three, but Boston battled back. Grabbing two points on the final hole of triples, Boston went into singles trailing by just one.

The one-point deficit quickly turned into a one-point advantage as McIlroy made easy work of Cameron Young on No. 10 and Keegan Bradley rolled in a 16 footer to sneak past Rickie Fowler. Schauffele once again wielded the hammer to perfection and rolled in an 11-foot birdie putt to regain the lead on No. 12.

Up by one, Young doubled New York's lead with a par on No. 13 — all he needed given McIlroy's struggles up the long par 4. With a hammer to spare and down by two, Boston threw it on the last hole, and it was once again Schauffele who cleaned up the points for his third hammer win of the evening to put the finishing touches on a playoff-clinching 10-6 victory.