Patrick Cantlay holed the winning putt on the final hole as Atlanta Drive GC claimed a 6-5 victory over New York Golf Club in the opening match of the TGL Final in Florida.

The American rolled in a six-footer for birdie to settle a rollercoaster contest at the SoFi Center, with Atlanta giving up an early 2-0 lead but then coming from 4-2 down to win.

The “momentum turner”, according to Cantlay, came on the 11th hole of the 15-hole match when Billy Horschel drained a nine-foot birdie putt to draw Atlanta level at 4-4.

“I got it, I’m making it,” Horschel said after overhearing team-mates Cantlay and Justin Thomas discussing whether to ‘throw the hammer’ – a tactic that doubles the points on offer for winning a hole should the opposition accept the challenge.

“We needed it and Billy stepped up,” added Cantlay.

Xander Schauffele accepted it was a “questionable decision” by his New York side to allow the hammer to be played with Rickie Fowler in for par.

However, they had benefited from the tactic a hole earlier when Cameron Young holed a nine-footer for eagle to move 4-2 ahead after Atlanta had accepted New York’s hammer throw.

The inaugural season of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s innovative technology-led indoor golf league will finish on Tuesday, with match two in the best-of-three final at 23:00 GMT. A deciding match, if required, will immediately follow.

Both sides will be unchanged, with Atlanta’s Lucas Glover and New York’s Matt Fitzpatrick both sitting out again.

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