Golf stars to battle in PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf primetime match

Golf fans will finally get their first PGA Tour vs. LIV showdown.

As first reported by Golfweek and confirmed by GOLF.com, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 3 Rory McIlroy will team up as PGA Tour loyalists to face reigning U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and five-time major champ Brooks Koepka of LIV Golf in a made-for-TV match in Las Vegas later this year.

The match will air on TNT, which broadcasted the previous nine editions of “The Match,” an exhibition series that started in 2018 with a matchup of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and most recently saw McIlroy take on Max Homa, Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson this past February.

Per Golfweek, the match will be produced by Bryan Zuriff’s BZ Entertainment, the developer of “The Match” series and EverWonder, although GOLF has learned the matchup will not be aired under “The Match” branding.

McIlroy and the agents of the other participants confirmed the event to Golfweek.

“I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December,” McIlroy said via 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.”

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It’s the first time since LIV Golf’s launch in 2022 that players from both the PGA Tour and the breakaway rival league will face off against each other in an exhibition match. The matchup comes as the PGA Tour faces increasing pressure to finalize a framework agreement of a merger with LIV Golf’s parent, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which was initially struck in June 2023.

Since LIV’s launch, the league’s players have been barred from PGA Tour-hosted competitions and thus have only competed against the top players on the PGA Tour in major championships and select events around the world. LIV players are also running out of exemptions to said majors as the league does not award Official World Golf Ranking points, the primary qualifier for major championships.

Koepka and DeChambeau are the only two players to win major championships since joining the league. The two major winners also had an intense social media-fueled rivalry in 2021 that even saw them face off against each other in “The Match V” on Black Friday of that year. Since the duo joined LIV Golf, the feud has essentially disappeared.

McIlroy has played in two editions of The Match and a number of other made-for-TV exhibitions. Scheffler is making his debut into exhibition golf and is coming off a banner season in which he won the Olympic gold medal and seven times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and the Tour Championship, where he took home the $25 million first-place bonus for the FedEx Cup.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.

 

 

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