The atmosphere at SoFi Center was noticeably different from the opening hole. Less joking around. More focus. The stakes were higher and it showed.

With a spot in the Final Series on the line and nowhere to hide, New York Golf Club met the moment under pressure and continued a monthlong heater in a 6-4 upset victory over top-ranked Los Angeles Golf Club Monday in the semifinals of TGL presented by SoFi.

Now NYGC advances to face the winner of Tuesday’s semifinal match between No. 2 seed The Bay Golf Club and No. 3 seed Atlanta Drive Golf Club, continuing an impressive turnaround for a team that was stuck in last place early this season.

While this was a new spot for a Los Angeles team that hadn’t lost in regulation this season, the must-win environment couldn’t have felt much different for NYGC – they were all must-wins just to get into the postseason after an 0-2 start on the year.

“We’re all pretty happy,” Xander Schauffele said. “We thought it was possible but we knew it was gonna be a long road, so we’re definitely happy to be here.”

New York has now gone 3-0-1 over its last four matches and will have plenty of confidence entering the Finals Series regardless of its opponent having just knocked off the top team in the bracket.

NYGC locked up the victory at No. 14 when Tommy Fleetwood’s 5-foot birdie putt to win the hole and keep Los Angeles alive lipped out, bringing LAGC’s season to an end in cruel fashion. Rickie Fowler had the chance to close it out with a 9-foot birdie putt but left the window open for Fleetwood with a miss.

“They gave us a little gift there,” Fowler said. “Not the way we wanted to win, we wanted to close out in style, but we’ll take it and we’re looking forward to next week.”

That was a rare missed shot for Fowler on the night, who put forth his best individual effort of the season.

After declining a Los Angeles Hammer throw at the first to fall behind 1-0, Fowler tied the match at the second with a 5-foot birdie make. He added another 6-footer to win the sixth hole as New York eventually took a 3-2 lead into Singles.

Fowler earned another point in Singles at the 11th and Schauffele made it 6-3 New York with a Singles win over Collin Morikawa at the 13th.

“New York played great and we had our chances,” Morikawa said. “I didn’t play great and I take responsibility on that. You have to make putts in this format ... We weren’t getting the ball in the hole first. That matters a lot. It sucks, because I feel like we had a nice rhythm throughout the season. Still love these guys ... it just happened to not be our day today.”

The Semifinals continue at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday with The Bay taking on Atlanta at SoFi Center on ESPN ahead of the Finals Series March 24-25.