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Fans of top-level golf competition, high-stakes play and unique viewing experiences will be in for a treat this week. On Tuesday, PGA stars Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will face off against LIV headliners Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in the Crypto.com Showdown.
The Showdown will share many similarities with TNT Sports’ “The Match” series. Like some past editions of The Match, this will be a team competition featuring a unique set of rules and featuring an up-close broadcasting format.
Fans who have enjoyed watching TNT Sports’ Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley provide commentary for The Match will be in luck too, as both are set to handle broadcasting duties on Tuesday.
Here’s everything else you need to know about The Showdown, including scheduling and rules information.
Who: Scheffler and McIlroy vs. DeChambeau and Koepka
When: Tuesday, December 17
Where: MGM Resorts’ Shadow Creek golf course in Las Vegas
TV and Live Stream: TNT and Max
Prize Purse: “multimillion dollar” purse paid in CRO cryptocurrency, according to Crypto.com
The Showdown will be a competition between PGA and LIV stars, though the four competitors seem to view it as more of a collaborative effort than any sort of grudge match between rival leagues.
“We’re going to do something basically outside of either tour, to give something back to the fans,” McIlroy said, per Sean Zak of Golf.com. “To show them, you know, at least let them know that we’re trying to provide entertainment—the players want to play together more often.”
For fans who enjoyed watching McIlroy and DeChambeau battle at the U.S. Open or all four competitors on the course at Augusta, this should be a fun reminder of how that looks.
The Showdown, however, will be far different from a traditional golf tournament. This will be an 18-hole team event that is broken down into three six-hole stages.
The first stage will feature best-ball rules. For those unfamiliar, best ball is a format in which each teammate plays their own shots on each hole, with the lowest score counting for the team. It’s a format that can allow players to gamble a bit, as only the lowest score will count.
Expect tam strategies to come into play often during the first stage. As Edoardo Molinari of Golf Digest explained, conservative play could be key on this course.
“Shadow Creek’s fairways are slightly tighter than the typical PGA Tour venue, and there is a high penalty for missing them. There are only three holes (Nos. 6, 14, 18) where it truly pays to be aggressive off the tee,” Molinari wrote.
That isn’t likely to prevent a few risk-reward shots during best-ball play.
The second stage will feature alternating shots. As its name would imply, Teammates will alternate shots on each hole to provide a team score. We’re far less likely to see risky play during this stage.
The final section will feature six holes of singles play.
As for the TNT broadcast, it should feature many of the same elements that fans have come to know and love from The Match. However, unlike the recent “The Match: Superstars” event, which was pre-taped and edited, The Showdown will be a live event.
It should all be familiar to three of the four competitors. Koepka and DeChambeau battled in “The Match: Bryson vs. Brooks,” while McIlroy outlasted Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang and Max Homa in “The Match IX.”
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