Billed as The Showdown, it will pit the PGA Tour’s two biggest stars against two standouts from LIV Golf.
The made-for-TV match pitting Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka finally has a home and a date.
Golfweek first reported plans for the event on Sept. 4, but the host course and date had not been agreed at that time. The match will take place at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Dec. 17. A formal announcement is expected later.
Billed as The Showdown, it will pit the PGA Tour’s two biggest stars against two standouts from LIV Golf and will air on TNT. Timing of the broadcast has not yet been confirmed, though multiple sources say it will conclude during prime time on the East Coast.
In a statement to Golfweek confirming the match last month, McIlroy said, “This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s major champions; it’s an event designed to energize the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.”
The Showdown showcases four multiple major-winners, including reigning Masters champion and dominant world No. 1 Scheffler. In June, DeChambeau edged McIlroy by a single shot in a dramatic finish to win his second U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst No. 2. Two sources say the players will receive an appearance fee but will not compete for prize money. It’s understood that the 18-hole match will feature a mix of best-ball and alternate shot formats.
The Showdown is being created by Bryan Zuriff’s BZ Entertainment and EverWonder Studio. Zuriff was previously involved in The Match, a series of TV matches that launched in 2018 and which had featured McIlroy, DeChambeau and Koepka. EverWonder Studio was founded last year by former Sports Illustrated executive Ian Orefice and backed by Jeff Zucker’s RedBird IMI.
“Those are two guys I really miss competing against.”
It has been nearly a month since Scottie Scheffler played a golf tournament, but the last time he did, he was doing something he did a lot of this year: win.
Scheffler, coming off his seven-win season on the PGA Tour, is playing this week at the 2024 Presidents Cup for the first time since the Tour Championship, where he claimed the FedEx Cup. The top-ranked player in the world will lead the Americans against the Internationals at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada.
What has life been like since his victory at East Lake?
“Not much. We were at home for most of it. I took a good week off after East Lake, and then I got to practicing pretty quickly after that. That’s about it,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler said his manager brought up the idea to him, and he thought it sounded fun.
“I’ve partnered with Brooks and Bryson at Ryder Cups before. I’ve never obviously had a chance to play with Rory at the Ryder Cup, but those are two guys I really miss competing against.
“Brooks has five major championships. That’s a pretty cool record for him. He’s had a great career. He’s a guy I love competing against. You’ve got Bryson, with all his stuff, I think he’s a fun guy to be around.
“It definitely interested me, and the way things fell together, it seemed to work out nice. It seems like a fun deal.”
Team USA captain Zach Johnson talks with golfer Justin Thomas, golfer Scottie Scheffler, and golfer Brooks Koepka (right) on the 18th hole during day one fourballs round for the 44th Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
But first, Scheffler has the Presidents Cup, where in his debut in 2022 he went 0-3-1. He’s motivated to do better this year in another opportunity to represent his country.
“That’s probably why you saw me so emotional after the Olympics. I really do take a lot of pride in playing for my country,” Scheffler said. “I’ve had the opportunity to do it a few times, and it’s very special.
“Coming here to foreign soil for us and trying to compete and bring back the Cup, I think will be pretty fun.”
The penultimate event on LIV Golf’s 2024 schedule has arrived at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Illinois, outside Chicago.
Brooks Koepka is looking to go 3-for-3 in the circuit’s regular-season finale. A win could earn him a spot on the podium at the season-long Individual Championship, although he can’t finish higher than third. The season’s individual race is now a two-man pursuit between Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann. Koepka needs to win in Chicago and have current third-place Tyrrell Hatton to finish lower than third.
Koepka has a LIV-high five victories, including LIV Golf Greenbrier earlier this year.
Bolingbrook Golf Club is hosting LIV Golf for the first time.
This is part of Rahm’s plan to be Ryder Cup eligible.
Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, two of the biggest stars on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, plan to play on the DP World Tour this fall.
Both players mentioned in press conferences Wednesday at LIV Golf Chicago they’d be committing to the European circuit events, and on Rahm’s side, that includes a Ryder Cup plan.
Rahm says he plans to play in the Spanish Open, Andalucia Masters and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Those three events, plus the Olympics, will fulfill the European Ryder Cup requirement. On the other hand, Rahm will not pay his DP World Tour fines.
“I’m entered to the tournament. We entered a long time ago. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing,” he said on Wednesday. “I’m not a big fan of the fines. … I’ve been outspoken about the fines. I don’t intend to pay the fines and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.”
Koepka also plans to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, saying, “St. Andrews is my favorite course in the world.”
LIV Golf Chicago kicks off Friday at Bolingbrook Golf Club and is the league’s final event before its team championship in Dallas, Sept. 20-22.
It’s been nearly six years since the first edition of The Match, the made-for-TV series of silly season golf events featuring everyone from PGA Tour legends to current NFL and NBA all-stars.
In that time, golf fans have been treated to seven different matches, most recently the first to be played using a mixed-team format.
Even though the first edition of The Match – Woods vs. Phil Mickelson in November 2018 in Las Vegas – didn’t quite live up to the hype, it proved there was a market for the competition. Over the years the matches have grown into charitable causes benefitting COVID-19 relief and HBCU’s while still providing golf fans a unique product outside of 72-hole stroke-play tournaments.
Representatives of all four players confirmed their involvement to Golfweek.
Golf’s long-simmering civil war is about to become prime-time entertainment.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will face Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a made-for-TV match later this year, Golfweek has learned.
The contest pits the two biggest stars on the PGA Tour against the most high-profile figures on LIV Golf, and will be widely interpreted as indicating a potential thaw in relations between the once warring camps.
The event will be held mid-December in Las Vegas and will air on TNT, which is owned by Warner Brothers Discovery. TNT previously broadcast nine editions of The Match, the series of exhibitions that launched in 2018 with Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson. McIlroy, Koepka and DeChambeau have all appeared in versions of The Match, but it’s unclear if this latest battle will be a continuation of that series. Four previous Matches were held in Las Vegas, three at Wynn Golf Club and one at Shadow Creek.
McIlroy confirmed his participation after an inquiry from Golfweek.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December,” he wrote in a text message. “This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s major champions; it’s an event designed to energize the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.”
Representatives of the other three players also confirmed their involvement to Golfweek.
“Brooks and Scottie are very excited to be a part of this unique event and look forward to sharing more soon,” said Blake Smith, who represents both Koepka and Scheffler.
Brett Falkoff, the agent for DeChambeau, said: “Bryson looks forward to competing in Las Vegas this December in an event that is sure to provide great entertainment for the fans.”
The prime-time special is being produced by Bryan Zuriff’s BZ Entertainment — which developed The Match series — and EverWonder Studio, which was founded last year by Ian Orefice, is run by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and is funded by RedBird IMI. Two sources say the players will receive an appearance fee but will not compete for prize money.
The PGA Tour declined to comment on the event. The Tour has been engaged in negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund — which bankrolls LIV — since signing the controversial Framework Agreement 15 months ago. Earlier this summer, the Tour appointed a committee to handle those talks directly. McIlroy is among a number of players who sit on that committee.
Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy fist bump on the 18th green during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
In response to a later question about how the Tour and PIF have prioritized talks, Monahan said the sides were “really starting to talk about the future, future product vision and where we can take our sport.”
The Vegas match features a lineup of stars who share layered rivalries. McIlroy and Koepka were tied at four major victories each until Koepka won a fifth at the 2023 PGA Championship, while DeChambeau narrowly edged McIlroy in a heartbreaking finish to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June.
Meanwhile, Scheffler has established himself as the undisputed world No. 1, with seven PGA Tour wins this season, culminating in the FedEx Cup title last weekend, which came with a bonus of $25 million.
(Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Jeff Zucker’s involvement in the project.)
Brooks Koepka shot a final-round 7-under 63 to leapfrog the field at the 2024 LIV Golf Greenbrier event Sunday to become the first five-time winner on the three-year old circuit.
It’s Koepka second win this season following the LIV Golf event in Singapore in May. He got back in the winner’s circler Sunday at The Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, after outlasting Richard Bland, Jason Kokrak and Jon Rahm down the stretch. Rahm was the 36-hole leader after his second-round 8-under 62 but shot a final-round 5-under 65, matching Koepka after 54 holes.
The duo went to a playoff, where Koepka won with a par. Rahm won the last LIV event in the UK.
Koepka banked $4 million for the win. He will also share the $3 million team prize with his Smash GC teammates Kokrak, Talor Gooch and fill-in John Catlin, who subbed in during McDowell’s suspension.
First albatross
On Saturday, LIV Golf had its first albatross when Brendan Steele holed his second shot from 285 yards at the par-5 17th with a 4-wood. It’s also the longest holed shot in LIV Golf.
Steele said he didn’t see it go in.
“We were trying to be aggressive, get it up there and have a chance for a 3,” he said. “It flew like all the way back to the hole and landed really soft and just kind of trickled in, I guess. Really cool. Obviously wasn’t expecting that.”
LIV Golf marked its 100th round Friday since the controversial league stunned the industry 26 months ago.
LIV Golf marked its 100th round Friday since the controversial league stunned the industry 26 months ago.
The idea, hatched by Palm Beach Gardens’ Greg Norman, took off once Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund, agreed to throw billions of dollars at the project.
LIV touted this venture as one that would grow golf by taking the league’s unique, untraditional format globally. And while that can be questioned, what cannot be disputed is LIV has gotten the attention of the PGA Tour, and directly affected its finances and economics, and the money being directed toward golfers.
“We’ve changed the face of golf,” Bubba Watson said Wednesday, ahead of this weekend’s LIV event at Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. “So to be on that side of history is pretty special.”
Watson then compared this to when Jack Nicklaus was instrumental in the first big split in professional golf that led to the forming of the PGA Tour in 1968. Nicklaus, though, strongly disagrees that the two are even related.
Scheffler can thank LIV for record earnings
Either way, Watson is spot-on when he says, “Scottie Scheffler has made a lot of money this year because of the changes that we’ve started putting in place.”
LIV’s impact on the PGA Tour has been significant. Every move the tour has made in the past two years to infuse money into the game, including the creation of Signature Events, more events with $20-$25 million purses, and pouring money into the Player Impact Program, has been a reaction to LIV and its endless stream of Saudi money.
One way to reduce the number of players jumping to LIV is to compete financially. The tour did that by pumping millions into its purses and billions into the game with a $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group that includes an initial investment of $1.5 billion into the launch of a commercial venture, PGA Tour Enterprises.
Scheffler has made $28.1 million this year in prize money with two $20 million purses, St. Jude and BMW championships, remaining ahead of the Tour Championship that will distribute $100 million, $25 million to the winner.
By the end of the season, Scheffler could make five to seven times what the tour’s top earner made in 2020-21, the year before LIV debuted. That does not include his share of the $50 million that will be distributed through the Player Impact Program, which rewards players for brand exposure.
In 2021, Jon Rahm topped the PGA Tour money list with $7.7 million. Rahm is LIV’s most recent blockbuster signing, luring the Spaniard with a reported $350 million deal that could surpass $550 million after bonuses.
Joaquin Niemann of Chile walks with an umbrella on the sixth hole during day three of The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon on July 20, 2024, in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Joaquin Niemann LIV’s money leader in 2024
Joaquin Niemann is LIV’s prize money leader in 2024 with $14.2 million through 12 of the 13 individual events. LIV concludes its season with the team championship on Sept. 20-22 at Maridoe, north of Dallas.
The prize money, though, is not the biggest lure for the handful of marquee golfers who made the jump to LIV. What got their attention was the massive contracts, especially those reportedly for at least $100 million that went to Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.
“Things need to evolve. Things need to change,” LIV’s Patrick Reed said Wednesday. “I feel like that’s what LIV is. They’ve stepped into a world that was all about tradition only and changed the face of golf for the better. And I feel like with LIV, we’re now allowed to touch a lot broader and better way of golf. Golf is boring, slow, long, and we’ve now brought in the fast and more entertaining part of life.”
While LIV certainly has impacted the sport where it matters most for the players, in their bank accounts, other areas have not been as consequential.
LIV’s format, which includes 13 four-man teams playing 54 holes with no cut, has not taken off as hoped. While LIV golfers praise the team aspect, which does add a piece of additional drama and “family” atmosphere, the league continues to struggle to attract viewers and has been hurt by the OWGR board denying LIV’s application to receive ranking points.
Despite that, money talks, and nobody can dismiss how much more of an impact LIV could have on the sport regardless of whether a deal is reached with the PGA Tour. Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said this week that the two sides will continue to operate separately next year, casting doubt that a deal is anywhere close.
“When people start to see the true value that we’re bringing, that intrinsic value is only going to exponentiate over the course of time, which is what I’m excited for,” DeChambeau said. “I’m waiting for that kind of domino effect, for it to start falling in that cool direction that we see here on our side at LIV, especially with the team aspect.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
Nothing like a little friendly banter before an afternoon on the course.
Sunday is a big day in the sports world.
Just in the golf world, there are numerous titles on the line across Europe and the United States. Then there’s the Wimbledon final on top of the Euro 2024 final, which features England taking on Spain.
LIV Golf Andalucia is in Spain this week at Valderrama in Sotogrande, a home game for Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and other Spaniards in the field.
Well, Brooks Koepka had something up his sleeve on Sunday. He was paired with Rahm and Garcia for the final round, and he walked to the first tee wearing an England soccer kit to troll the duo.
Brooks Koepka was so stoked about the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup!
This Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup victory has been a long time coming for Brooks Koepka.
Koepka — long-time PGA Tour champion — is quite the Panthers superfan, going so far as to rush to a Stanley Cup playoff game the day after winning the PGA Championship last year. And this latest turn of the Panthers finally winning the Stanley Cup has Koepka stoked, to say the least.
Jena Sims, Koepka’s wife, posted a pair of videos to TikTok showing just how excited the golfer was as the Panthers won the Stanley Cup. From excitedly jumping around after the final buzzer to mimicking kissing the Stanley Cup, Koepka’s reaction is exactly the level of hype as you’d expect from a Panthers fan.
