Crypto bros and golf fans, rejoice! Two and a half years after LIV Golf split from the PGA Tour in a theatrical outpouring of attitude and money, the golf world remains as divided as ever, with two sets of stars running on parallel courses. The game’s best plays come just four times a year, during the majors… and now in a made-for-TV holiday event called the “Crypto.com Showdown.”
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka – the first two PGA Tour stalwarts, the last two LIV’s most successful players – will tee off at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas for what is being billed as the “first-ever multi player ever’. -million dollar professional sports prize purse in CRO Cryptocurrency.
The match will air Tuesday night at 6:00 PM ET on TNT, TBS and associated networks and apps. The “Inside the NBA” duo of Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson will broadcast the Showdown, probably with a little less gravitas than at Augusta National.
One interesting point: this will be a team play event, with six holes of best ball, six holes of alternate stroke and six holes of singles. It’s like a mini Ryder Cup! But given how LIV has brought the concept of regular team play to the forefront of golf, it’s entirely possible that this could be a glimpse into the future of the game.
Thanks to the Showdown organizers for getting four of the game’s best on one course. McIlroy hasn’t had a major win since 2014, but he’s still at the top of his game. Koepka has five majors and is a threat whenever he plays one of golf’s premier events. DeChambeau claimed his second US Open last June. And Scheffler is simply unstoppable, with a Masters victory, an Olympic gold medal and a Tour Championship win in 2024 alone.
Let’s face it: it’s pretty ridiculous that the only way we can tell outside of the majors that the game best shares a course is through a cheating TV event. They should play each other at least twelve times a year.
The US Open match between McIlroy and DeChambeau was one of the best majors of the past decade. When Koepka is engaged, he is as strong as anyone in the game. And Scheffler is so dominant that the rest of the field needs all the help he can get to slow him down.
Plus, these four – especially DeChambeau – have the potential to be interesting personalities. There was a bit of what passes for nonsense in golf on the course on Monday, as DeChambeau McIlroy hammered the range one more time:
“I would like to take on Bryson and try to get back at him for what he did to me at the US Open,” McIlroy said.
“To be honest,” DeChambeau replied, “you kind of did it to yourself.”
DeChambeau remains one of the game’s most fascinating figures, a budding social media superstar in a sport that otherwise struggles to find traction. Until joining LIV, he was best known for his long-running feud with Koepka in late 2010. He opened up about that last week while promoting the Showdown.
“We had our fights,” DeChambeau said. “But when we both went to LIV, we realized we had quite a few things in common. Kind of like stepbrothers, in a way. And we’ve developed a pretty solid relationship and have a lot of respect for each other now.”
“We all get older, we all mature a little bit, and then you realize, hey, Bryson is a good guy,” Koepka said. “I think he’s seriously misunderstood and I think the world is really starting to see who Bryson DeChambeau is, which is cool. I’m the first to admit it: I was wrong about what my original thoughts were.”
If Koepka and DeChambeau can get along, maybe golf can all get along?
We are still a long way from a reunion of golf. But for one evening, golf fans can get their first look at the top four courses sharing a course for the first time since the Open Championship in July. Enjoy, because it’s the last time this happens until the Masters in April.
