In a first since LIV Golf was announced three years ago, players from both the Saudi-backed league and PGA Tour matched up in the Showdown outside a major championship.
Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau from LIV Golf faced Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler of the PGA Tour. All four players have won at least two majors with Koepka leading the way with five. This year, Scheffler won the Masters while DeChambeau edged out McIlroy at the U.S. Open in major play.
However, Tuesday at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas featured a two-on-two match like no other. In addition, with Crypto.com being the sponsor, $10 million in cryptocurrency was on the line.
Here are the highlights from the Showdown’s star-studded match.
Team PGA Tour wins the Showdown on wild 16th hole
In a matchup where McIlroy had the opportunity to gain some redemption over DeChambeau from blowing the lead at the U.S. Open, he certainly delivered.
It came down to the par-5 16th hole, with either McIlroy or Scheffler needing to tie the hole in their singles matches against DeChambeau and Koepka, respectively.
On the dogleg right, Scheffler and McIlroy both found the rough while DeChambeau and Koepka both went into the thick stuff. As a result, DeChambeau had a long par putt. Despite being on the right line, it came up short.
In the first opportunity to win the Showdown, Scheffler’s putt was also on the right line but came up short. Koepka had a birdie putt to extend the match. However, he missed his putt, giving the PGA Tour the win.
On the 14th, McIlroy made another birdie putt, putting pressure on DeChambeau. However, DeChambeau missed his putt to the right, facing a 2-down deficit with four to play. On the other hand. Koepka made his birdie putt to get his match against Scheffler back to even.
DeChambeau had a chance to bounce back on the 15th after McIlroy opened the door to get back to 1 down. Koepka missed his putt to give Scheffler a 1-up lead with three holes to play.
A par-3 kicked off the singles action on the 13th. However, all four players missed the green. Both McIlroy and Scheffler made their par putts to each take a 1-up lead on DeChambeau and Koepka, respectively.
PGA Tour takes commanding 2-0 lead in Alternate shot session
Before the four-ball session began on hole No. 7, the sun had set, the lights went on, and the players were in golf carts.
Hole Nos. 7-12 featured alternate shot play, also known as foursomes, to determine the scoring.
LIV Golf had the honors after winning the coin flip. Both teams halved the first two holes heading into the final hole of the front nine.
Both teams were tied heading into the 12th hole after Koepka made a putt to even the session.
On the final hole of the foursomes session, Scheffler pushed his tee shot into the rough while Koepka had a poor chip. It led to two difficult two-putts from both sides. After Koepka missed his par putt, it opened the door for McIlroy to sink the par putt.
McIlroy and Scheffler won the foursomes session to take a 2-0 lead heading into singles action.
Team PGA Tour had the advantage on the par-4 ninth with McIlroy getting in the fairway and Koepka in the rough. Scheffler had 110 yards while DeChambeau was in the rough but standing in the bunker. That gave the reigning U.S. Open champion a tough lie. DeChambeau got on the green but could not get any backspin due to his lie.
Scheffler got his approach to four feet, setting up birdie for McIlroy. Koepka’s putt went long and longer than McIlroy’s spot, giving them the line. However, DeChambeau ultimately missed the putt, resulting in Team PGA Tour winning the hole.
McIlroy’s putter gives PGA Tour a 1-0 lead in the Showdown
The first six holes featured the fourballs format where all four players hit, and the player with the best score from each team goes on the scorecard.
The PGA Tour had honors after winning the opening coin flip.
On the first hole, Rory McIlroy gave the PGA Tour a 1-up lead in the Showdown with a birdie. This came after he took advantage of the slope behind the pin to set up his birdie putt.
On the short, par-4 second, both Scheffler and Koepka laid up for their teammates to blast away. McIlroy, who is testing out the new Taylormade Qi35 driver, went into the left greenside bunker while DeChambeau went left of McIlroy’s.
Koepka missed his short birdie putt after DeChambeau was unable to get on the green in two. As a result, McIlroy took advantage by getting up-and-down for birdie for a 2-up lead.
All four players had long birdie putts on the long par-4 third. However, no one was able to cash in, as the score remained 2-up through three holes.
The fourth hole was the first par-5 of the round. Although Koepka had to take a drop, DeChambeau was able to get on the green in two. He was also in a better position than Scheffler and McIlroy.
However, McIlroy stayed hot with the putter, making the eagle by going up and over the ridge. On top of that, DeChambeau missed his short eagle putt, giving the PGA Tour the first point in the Showdown.
As a result, hole Nos. 5 and 6 did not need to be played.