PGA Tour-LIV Golf 'Showdown' confirmed

Professional golf’s civil war may ultimately be damaging to the sport overall, but that isn’t stopping some from capitalizing on the rift.

Per a report in Front Office Sports on Wednesday, the made-for-TV match pitting PGA Tour golfers Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler against LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will be called The Showdown and air across TNT Sports properties on December 17th. The branding is intentionally distinct from the nine previous editions of The Match that TNT Sports has broadcast.

In recent years, The Match has transformed into a more celebrity-focused golf competition featuring the likes of Steph Curry and Charles Barkley, sometimes alongside professional golfers and other times without. The Showdown will supposedly be a return to a more competitive format played across 18 holes in front of up to 5,000 fans. Notably, the first iteration of The Showdown will be played at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, the site of the first iteration of The Match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2018.

According to the report, The Showdown franchise has a six-year deal in place with plans to rotate future editions between the United States and international locations. The Middle East is being targeted for next year’s edition, with Europe also a possibility.

In an interesting twist, no prize money is up for grabs during The Showdown , unlike The Match which usually has a charitable element. Hollywood producer Bryan Zuriff who is spearheading the effort (and also created The Match ) told Front Office Sports , “This is more than money. This is a lot of pride. There’s no amount of money that’s going to make anyone excited to watch something. These are guys that need to win this for many different reasons.”

Zuriff may have a point. Despite LIV Golf boasting ginormous purses for its tournaments, nobody watches . However, even if the four golfers participating in the inaugural edition of The Showdown won’t be awarded prize money, they all have equity in the venture.

Whether or not The Showdown becomes a commercial success, it at least gives golf fans an opportunity to watch players on the competing tours play together outside of the major championships. And as long as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf remain at an impasse, maybe this type of competition is the best the sport has to offer.

[ Front Office Sports ]

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