The Showdown: LIV and PGA Tour golfers meet for groundbreaking clash!
Following the end of the PGA and LIV seasons, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler (PGA Tour) will take on Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka (LIV Golf) in an exhibition match called The Showdown, which will take place on December 17 and see the stars from opposing golf tours battle it out at Las Vegas’ Shadow Creek Golf Course.
Many hope that the event can serve as an ‘olive-branch’, bringing PGA and LIV golfers back together. This comes after Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) which bankrolls LIV, played alongside each other at Carnoustie recently in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The format is yet to be finalised, but it has been confirmed that ‘The Showdown’ will air live on TNT as an 18-hole match. Bryan Zuriff the producer of the The Match, which is a series of exhibition match play golf challenge matches that began in 2018 is also producing The Showdown. A notable difference however,between The Match and The Showdown is the lack of prize money with competitors receiving a set appearance fee instead of performance based rewards.
DeChambeau and Koepka have previously met in an iteration of The Match in 2021 as a result of their ongoing feud.
A timeline of their feud:
- January 2019: Koepka comments on slow play during the Dubai Desert Classic
- August 2019: The two have a secret peace meeting at the Northern Trust
- January 2020: DeChambeau calls out Koepka’s abs on Twitch
- 2021: Koepka gives an eye-rolling interview on the Golf Channel that goes viral and turns his face into a meme
- November 2021: The two face off in a highly-anticipated match (The Match) at the Wynn in Las Vegas, where Koepka wins
- 2022: Both players join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit
- October 2022: Koepka and DeChambeau participate in a joint press conference at LIV Bangkok
- 2023 PGA Championship: The two are paired together for the third round at Oak Hill
Koepka has now said that he and DeChambeau have “squashed” their feud and are now “almost every day” in communication.
On the other hand, McIlroy and Scheffler come in as the potentially stronger pair of the two, with McIlroy ranking third in the world and Scheffler the world number one. Scheffler comes off the back of an outstanding year, winning 7 PGA tour events in 2024, an Olympic gold medal and raking in a reported $62 million in winnings.
It has been confirmed that a six year deal is in place which will see the venue alternate between both US and international venues. MGM will be the US host (Shadow Creek) with the Middle East targeting hosting next year’s iteration.
Words by Krish Thakur
Image credit: The Straits Times
