PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Neal Shipley threw his 54-degree sand wedge in the air and leapt into the arms of his TGL teammates Monday night after making a little history at the SoFi Center, recording the very first ace in league history.
Shipley, who was making his TGL debut alongside Luke Clanton for The Bay Golf Club – with Min Woo Lee rounding out the trio – helped The Bay notch its first win of the season after defeating Los Angeles Golf Club 11-5.
The Bay was the final team to add a win to its results ledger this season.
Shipley and Clanton were filling in Monday night for The Bay and helped the squad get off to a quick 4-0 lead with Clanton making an 8-foot birdie try on No. 3, forcing Los Angeles to concede the hole, and Clanton again rolling in a 21-footer to just a couple of feet to force Los Angeles to also concede No. 4.
Shipley then hit his tee ball on the par-5 3rd just past the hole before he sucked it back into the bottom of the cup, setting off an euphoric celebration inside the SoFi Center.
“I hit that shot in practice a bunch and I think I missed (the green) five or six times in a row,” Shipley, who has now made four holes-in-one in his life, admitted with a laugh. “I aimed a little bit right of the pin and tugged it a hair, but pandemonium after that. Just went crazy.”
Clanton hit his approach on No. 6 into the penalty area and with the hammer down, Los Angeles won the hole for two points to cut the lead in half, before The Bay suffered another lost hole (Shipley hit his tee ball on the quickly-iconic Stinger hole into the penalty area), trimming the lead to 4-3.
But The Bay got one back on No. 9 after Tony Finau – who was in as a fill-in for Los Angeles Monday – hit his approach on the par five into the hazard area. Clanton rolled in a three-foot par saver to give The Bay a 5-3 lead heading into singles.
Clanton got things off to an idyllic start for The Bay in singles after roasting his approach on the par-5 10th to just six feet and converting the eagle to bump the lead to 7-3.
Los Angeles then began to push back on The Bay, with Tommy Fleetwood defeating Shipley on the par-4 11th before Sahith Theegala hit driver to just seven feet on Cenote, the tricky par-3 12th, after the team took a timeout and threw the hammer, making the score 7-5 with just four holes left.
From the rough, Finau then nearly dunked his approach on No. 13, but Clanton rolled in a 10-foot birdie to tie the hole – with a quick-step celebration, at that – leaving the score 7-5.
Shipley (who said with a laugh that he had promised some of his friends back home he would take his shirt off if he made an ace, but, alas, he didn’t fulfill that bet) and Lee both recorded two points via hammer throws on the final two holes to bump the score to 11-5 – the second-largest margin of victory of the season.
“It was great. It’s different. You’re so used to playing for yourself. When you’re playing for something bigger than yourself it’s just cool,” Shipley said.
Theegala with a push to pebble
Sahith Theegala rocked an Anze Kopitar throwback Los Angeles Kings jersey on his walk-in to the SoFi Center Monday night, and he’ll be ripping back to California as soon as possible after receiving the final sponsor invite to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week on the PGA Tour.
The tournament, which has been elevated to a Signature Event on the Tour schedule, features a limited field of just 80 golfers. Theegala, who suffered a neck injury last year causing him to miss almost two months of action and pushing him well down the FedExCup standings, has returned to form so far in 2026, notching three straight top-20 finishes including back-to-back top 10s at The American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open.
Theegala’s invitation was just confirmed Sunday night, which meant he flew from Phoenix to West Palm Beach and back to California in a matter of about 30 hours.
Fleetwood, Finau, and Lee are also in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am field.
