PGA Tour, LIV Golf stars attempt to heal pro golf’s fracture with Vegas exhibition

LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will face PGA Tour top-rankers Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in a made-for-TV faceoff over 18 holes that has officially been titled “The Showdown,” at Las Vegas’ Shadow Creek Golf Course on December 17.

McIlroy, who has gone from being the fiercest critic of the breakaway LIV Golf League to speaking for unity between the two tours said the exhibition could be a forerunner for what was possible if talks – currently stalemated by all accounts – resumed progress.

“We wanted to create something exciting for golf fans, something beyond the usual four majors,” the Northern Irishman said recently. “We’ve got Scottie, the best in the world, alongside Bryson and Brooks, both major winners in recent years. I’m thrilled to be part of it — it’s a chance to show what could be possible going forward.

“I wouldn’t say it’s meant to send a message. It’s more we wanted to do something that, I guess, all golf fans could get excited about.”

World number one Scheffler is an eight-time winner this year including The Masters and Olympic gold in Paris while McIlroy is a four-time Major champion and third behind Scheffler and Xander Schauffele in the Official World Golf Rankings. On the other side are two-time US Open champion DeChambeau, who beat out McIlroy at this year’s US Open, and five-time Major winner Koepka.

DeChambeau and Koepka are the only two members of the LIV Golf roster to have won a Major after switching over to the breakaway league from the PGA Tour three years ago. Since the OWGR does not recognise events that are played over 54 holes and not 72 as in most golf tournaments worldwide, those participating in LIV Golf events are not awarded ranking points.

Merger talks between the two sides – the PGA Tour and the Saudi sovereign Public Investment Fund – have not made much progress despite two deadlines have come and gone some 10 months ago. The Las Vegas exhibition, led by BZ Entertainment, is expected to air on the Warner Brothers Discovery-owned TNT channel and follows a similar exhibition between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2008 that was also played at the same venue and billed as “The Match”.

In all, nine editions of The Match have been broadcast so far and McIlroy, DeChambeau and Koepka have all made appearances on the celebrity exhibition. According to a report in Golf Digest, however, the new matchup will be more competitive with possible elements of the Ryder Cup format being incorporated.

Interestingly, reports said all four players will have a stake in the match and it is expected to be an annual feature with events alternately in Las Vegas and overseas though the format – whether match-play or stroke-play – has not yet been finalised. Also, there is no prize money at stake but appearance fees and a take from the commercial side of “The Showdown”.

McIlroy said the event would offer fans a taste of top-level match-ups especially with the golf season worldwide at a low ebb. “December is usually a quiet time in the golf world, so we thought this would be a great way to get people excited ahead of the new season.”