Jupiter Links will make a change for its first match against Los Angeles Golf Club in the TGL’s SoFi Cup Finals, but it’s not what everyone is anticipating.
With Akshay Bhatia unavailable for the March 23 match at SoFi Center, Kevin Kisner returns to the Jupiter lineup … not Tiger Woods.
Jupiter and LA will open their best-of-3 final series at 9 p.m. at SoFi Center. A champion will be crowned March 24 with the first match at 7 p.m., and, if necessary, a second at 9 p.m.
Kisner, Max Homa and Tom Kim will face the LA lineup that features two of the top 10 in the world, No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood and No. 5 Justin Rose, along with Sahith Theegala.
In singles it will be Homa vs. Rose, Kim vs. Fleetwood, Kisner vs. Theegala.
When asked about possibly playing for the first time this year in the finals following Jupiter’s semifinal win over Boston Common last week, Woods strongly hinted he would continue coaching his team without playing.
“I really don’t want to screw up the lineup,” he said. “I just want these guys to keep playing.”
Woods, 50, had disc replacement surgery Oct. 10 and was hoping to join his team by the end of the season.
Homa, Kim and Bhatia led Jupiter, the No. 4 seed, to the 9-5 upset over top-seeded Boston Common and Rory McIlroy in the semifinals.
Jupiter missed the playoffs in TGL’s inaugural season and was the last team to secure a postseason spot this season.
“I knew we had a bit of turmoil in the off-season, considering (Woods) was hurt and Kevin is in the booth,” Homa said about Kisner’s duty as an NBC golf analyst.
“But this season felt way different than last year. When we were losing last year, it didn’t really feel like we had a lot of life. And this year when we lost early it felt like we were just getting the bad end of the draw. So it was cool to watch it flip.”
LA sending out same potent lineup for TGL final first match
No. 2 seed LA defeated defending champion and No. 3 seed, Atlanta Drive, 6-4, in the semifinals. LA will send out the same three players for the first match of the finals.
World No. 6 Collin Morikawa also plays for LA but has missed the last two weeks since injuring his back during the first round of The Players Championship.
Morikawa’s teammates facetimed him following their win over Atlanta.
“He gets so fired up for this,” Theegala said. “It was great to see him after, and he was pumped.
“But it’s really cool to get it done for him as well, because he’s a huge part of this team. And every one of us have put a lot of work and effort into this as well, so it’s really nice to see the payout of this making it to the finals.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter makes change for TGL finals against LA, but it’s not Tiger
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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