The Showdown, a made-for-TV match that saw LIV Golf League players Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau take on PGA Tour loyalists Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, resulted in a convincing win for the latter pair over 18 holes at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas on December 17.
The night-time contest, which was played under floodlights with the players wearing microphones, saw the four biggest names from the two rival circuits come together in what was seen as a symbolic softening of relations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
The 18-hole match, which was only available for broadcast in the US, was split into three six-hole sessions – fourballs, foursomes and singles – in a thinly veiled attempt to recreate the format of the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler and McIlroy, ranked no.1 and no.3 in the world, went 2-up after the first two holes and when McIlroy eagled the fourth hole, the fourball session went the way of the PGA Tour pair.
Their form continued into the foursomes, with Scheffler and McIlroy edging ahead of their rivals after US Open champion DeChambeau missed a par putt on the ninth to concede the hole after holes 7 and 8 were tied.
The LIV Golf pairing won their first hole of the match at the 11th when Koepka made a birdie, but their joy was short-lived as the PGA Tour team won the next hole to claim the foursomes’ session and go 2-0 up in the contest.
The singles saw Scheffler take on Koepka and McIlroy facing DeChambeau in a match that was billed as a repeat of the final round battle at this year’s US Open – which DeChambeau famously won. But it was McIlroy who came out on top this time, with the Northern Irishman winning holes 13, 14 and 16 to seal the win, while Scheffler won holes 13, 15 and 16 to take the win against his US Ryder Cup teammate and take the overall match score to 4-0.
“We’re super happy to get the win. It’s a nice way to finish the year,” said McIlroy, who picked up $5 million in cryptocurrency for his share of the team winnings. “Scottie and I got off to a pretty good start and then from there it was just about trying to keep the momentum going.”
He added: “We want to let the fans know that we’re trying to provide entertainment, that the players want to play together more often.”