PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Billy Horschel lept in the air, chucked his putter and hat and shouted a few excited expletives as he galavanted across the artificial green at SoFi Center. His putt on the 14th hole of the TGL Finals Series had just taken a sharp downhill turn and improbably dropped into the cup, giving Atlanta Drive GC its first lead of the night with just one hole to play.

The concept of TGL started on a cocktail napkin, a thought starter from TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley on how to innovate one of the world’s oldest sports. It took a circuitous route to get there, but TGL’s two-night championship duel encapsulated what McCarley hoped to create: an intense competition in primetime with good golf that provided great entertainment.

This moment was what TGL could be when it was at its best.

The inaugural season of the tech-infused golf league wrapped Tuesday as Atlanta Drive swept New York Golf Club in a dramatic best-of-three series. Atlanta Drive won four points over the final four holes – the last two courtesy of Horschel’s putt – to win 4-3 and claim the SoFi Cup and the $9 million first prize.

“I would think nobody could have at the beginning of the season or even a year or two years ago could have seen something like this,” Justin Thomas said.

The championship match was the climax of this grand golf experiment, which has been the subject of much discourse since TGL’s inception. The curiosity of what the tech might look like, which players would participate and, most importantly, if the fans would buy into this new-look golf league. At times, those discussions took up more oxygen than the golf itself, but on Tuesday night the golf shined.

Atlanta Drive mounted an unexpected comeback, scoring all four of their points in a three-hole stretch of Singles to come storming back, beat New York Golf Club and avoid a decisive third match that would have extended the festivities well into the night. After finding itself down 3-0, Atlanta won the 12th and 13th holes by concessions from New York. That set up the drama of the par-3 14th hole. Rickie Fowler hit it in the greenside bunker while Horschel’s approach hung perilously on the top shelf of the green. Atlanta threw their final Hammer, forcing New York to concede a third consecutive hole or accept, double the points, and risk losing the lead. They accepted, Fowler safely found the green and then Horschel did what he did, holing the putt and nabbing the game-winning points.

“I yelled, 'This is my effin' house,' multiple times. I didn't say 'effing,' so,” Horschel said.

“They picked up on that, Billy, I think,” Thomas interjected, laughing.

“Listen, blackout moments,” Horschel said. “I don't ever plan it. It just sort of happens. I'll just stop talking now.”

The moment was born from TGL’s willingness to adapt when something wasn’t working and its nimbleness to execute quickly, a benefit of the organization’s fledgling state.

When concerns were raised earlier this season about the lack of Hammer usage leading to dull outcomes, the league restructured how and when teams could play the Hammer. Instead of teams trading the Hammer back and forth, the league implemented a new rule that allowed each team to play the Hammer three times during a match, which increased the volatility and entertainment of the matches. Without those Hammer changes, Atlanta isn’t able to mount the comeback they did.

When players raised worries about the depth perception of the front tee box – balls were flying much further than players expected – the league quickly adjusted. Beginning with the third match in mid-January, shots 71 yards or longer were changed and played from the back box. Previously, anything from 45-130 yards was played from the front tee box. It yielded immediate results. Greens-in-regulation percentage jumped from 42% to 81%, and the average proximity tightened by 14 feet when players used the front box.

As the season wraps, it also leaves questions about what its encore will bring and what, if any, fundamental changes will come with it.

Expansion is already being considered. McCarley has indicated talks are underway to add more teams, though there’s no specific timeline for when teams could be added. McCarley told Tom D’Angelo of The Palm Beach Post in an article posted Tuesday that teams could be added as soon as 2026.

"We've had potential expansion team owners at every single match this season coming to visit us,” McCarley told D’Angelo. “Some of them, multiple times. Some of them have a lot of questions, a lot of feedback."

The Palm Beach Post also reported that TGL is talking with partners about the building of a West Coast venue. TGL has already visited possible sites, though an "opening of another venue is several years down the line," McCarley said.

Current TGL players are bullish on other players’ willingness to join if the league expands.

Jupiter Links’ Kevin Kisner said: “Every player I see asks me about it. First question is what do you think about TGL? … If we're going to expand and continue to grow this and continue to add players, then you want the hype and you want guys to feel like they're missing out. I think we're achieving that.”

The players have been the first to share their ideas for further change. Earlier in the season, Xander Schauffele and Horschel both brought up the possible inclusion of celebrities, either with their own matches or as an integrated piece with existing TGL teams. Horschel also teased the possibility of having all four players on a roster available for a match night, allowing one to come in like a baseball reliever. Wyndham Clark threw out the idea of having home golf courses created for each team to fit the strength of each roster.

“I think just like us players sit down in our off-season with our team, they're going to sit down here and see how they can tweak everything," Schauffele said Tuesday, adding he’s already had discussions with TGL brass about ending the season earlier, possibly before THE PLAYERS Championship.

“That would be something that we'd be up for,” he said.

So as TGL moves forward after a successful first season, can it push the right buttons to elevate the product further? As long as the TGL can maintain the intense competition of the last two nights at the SoFi Center – and produce a few moments like Horshcel’s – the league should be just fine.