Match 10 and 11 of the innovative TGL took place at the SoFi center in Florida. Los Angeles Golf Club took on the New York Golf Club in the first match. The thriller went into overtime after a tie score of 4-4 in regular play. Collin Morikawa and replacement Tony Finau held their nerve to beat Rickie Fowler and Matt Fitzpatrick to the pin in the playoff. It gave the LAGC qualification to the playoffs, while New York Golf Club had to be satisfied with a point and judgment on a later day.

The second match had similar stakes. Boston Common Golf, led by Rory McIlroy had yet to win a game while the Atlanta Drive Golf Club were looking to cement their spot in the playoffs with a win. At the end of the triples phase of play, Boston was looking at an upset and leading 2-1. But two crucial hammer plays (resulting in double points) turned the tide around for Atlanta Drive who finished winners 3-6 at the end.

After the match, Boston Common Golf player and 2025 Sentry winner Matsuyama had certain thoughts about his performance at the TGL.

Hideki Matsuyama feels like he needs to improve his TGL performance

TGL’s impact in the United States is incredible. The league averaged nearly 500k viewers across the first six days of golf. The tech-based league is also available across different countries, with U-NEXT showing the event in Japan. “Obviously I’m not in Japan so I don’t know exactly how much impact we have in Japan, but I’ve been hearing that we have a pretty good viewership back in Japan,” Matsuyama stated.

During the first two games of the league, Adam Scott took the field instead of Hideki Matsuyama. Boston had a close overtime loss to Tiger Woods’s Jupiter Links Golf Club in their first match. Los Angeles Golf Club dismantled them in the second match by 6-2. Matsuyama was clearly disappointed that he wasn’t able to contribute to both matches. He stated, “We had a couple close matches we could have won. Just disappointed how I couldn’t contribute to the team.”

The golfer very recently came under fire as he had previously admitted that he did not follow the league closely. “I watched the opener maybe for 10, 15 minutes. I still haven’t visited the arena, so there’s lots of things I need to study, but I’m really looking forward to playing next week,” Matsuyama had explained before making his debut on February 17. This was heavily criticized by fans, questioning whether the 2025 Sentry winner is loyal to his TGL team. However, Matsuyama has been putting in hard work for his team whenever he takes part in matches.

But, his game has been very different from his PGA Tour form. In the 4 singles matchups in the last two games, Matsuyama has lost three times. In the game against the Bay Golf Club, Matsuyama and Wyndham Clark were locked in a final-round tussle, with the winner of the hole getting to win it for his game. Matsuyama came up short allowing Clark and the Bay GC to maintain their unbeaten run. The last match against the Drive was also particularly brutal, as he gave up three points to Billy Horschel thanks to a hammer hole and effectively sealed the loss. No one is more sad about this than the Japanese golfer.“I felt like the bunkers today were a bit different compared to the practice I had previously, and today lost two holes on singles. Very disappointed in how I played today,” the 2025 Sentry winner expressed his disappointment.

If anyone can turn it around, it is the Japanese. In the open field, he has been shining. He has made the cut at all the 6 PGA Tour events he has participated in. He is also second in the current FedEx points list. It is just a matter of turning his course form to the simulator. So, should his loyalty come into question? No! As it is just a matter of adjusting to one form of game from the other. Matsuyama even addressed his game candidly, “I feel like I have to adjust all of my game, so hopefully I have time to do that, and hopefully I get into the team next week.” If Hideki Matsuyama, returns to form, Boston Common Golf can very likely make the playoffs.

How can Boston Common Golf qualify for the playoffs

Right now, Rory McIlroy’s side is dead last in the table, having lost all matches so far. The slight advantage they have right now is that they did get a point from their loss to Tiger Woods’s Jupiter Links Golf Club, as it went to overtime. That Point could be the key deciding factor for Boston Common Golf.

Boston needs to beat New York comfortably in their head-to-head matchup, by at least 3 holes on March 3. On top of that, they will also need the Bay Golf Club and the Atlanta Drive Golf Club to beat Jupiter Links Golf Club in their respective matches against the Tiger Woods side on February 25 and March 4. This will be the more difficult to achieve as both Ludvig Aberg’s Bay GC and the Drive have qualified for the playoffs.

The advantage for Hideki Matsuyama and Co. is that Tiger Woods will not feature in the upcoming match against Bay Golf Club. This would be a big hit for Woods’s team. Do you think Boston Common Golf Club could eke their way into the playoffs? Or will either Jupiter Links Golf Club or New York Golf Club spoil their party?