The long wait is over. In its first match of the second season of TGL, Boston Common Golf Club can finally say it has notched a victory in the SoFi Center. Aided by the debut of PGA Tour youngster Michael Thorbjornsen, Rory McIlroy’s squad outlasted Los Angeles Golf Club, picking up a 7-5 victory.
Last season, Boston failed to register a win in the regular season, while Los Angeles went 4-0-1 and was the No. 1 seed heading into the postseason. On Friday night, Boston flipped the script, thanks in large part to its putters, which caught fire like never before.
At one point, the Boston trio — Keegan Bradley was the third — made four straight putts from outside of 10 feet and went into the singles portion of the contest all tied up with Los Angeles, 4-4, after a back-and-forth triples session. In singles, the rollercoaster nature of the match continued with Thorbjorsen proving his worth once again against Sahith Theegala.
The Massachusetts native won his first singles hole thanks to a putt from 17 feet, giving Boston the lead with three holes to play. By the time his spot in the batting order was up again, the score remained the same, and Thorbjornsen wielded his putter effectively again by making a 15-foot eagle putt to put Boston’s first win in TGL on ice.
TGL takeaways
- Boston nabs a W: The Commoners are officially off the schneid. After a year in which they went 0-4-1 in five regular-season matches, Boston is on the board with its first victory and into a share of first place with Atlanta Drive. The win came without two of its regular team members, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, which could put them in a tricky spot moving forward with usage.
- Thorbjornsen sparkles in debut: A big market team that underperformed is handed a young and upcoming star? When have we heard that before? Thorbjorsen hails from New England ,so we won’t put on our tin foil hats quite yet, but it was a strong showing for the first-timer. After dumping his first shot in the greenside bunker, the powerful right-hander was lights out and could not miss on the greens.
- Justin Rose showing some speed? One of the more interesting parts of TGL is the numbers these guys produce with every swing, and it seemed like Rose picked up (and sustained) some speed. He admirably tried to keep pace with McIlroy and touched 182 mph ball speed with the driver at one point. Mind you, Rose ranked 126th in ball speed on the PGA Tour in 2025, averaging just under 172 mph at 45 years old. It could be nothing, or it could be him gearing up for another strong year in 2026.