Golf

PGA Tour vs LIV Golf TV Match: Who’s Playing and What to Expect

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Sep 11, 2024 / 9480 Views

Evan Walker

While the ongoing PGA Tour vs LIV Golf negotiations remain at a stalemate more than a year after their planned merger was announced, here’s something bound to attract golf fans around the world: A televised contest featuring top golfers from both leagues. Held in Las Vegas in mid-December, the marquee TV match will feature PGA Tour stars Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy vs LIV Golf players Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau.

There is definitely a lot to read into as the buzz grows around the prime-time match, set to be broadcasted on US channel TNT. Fans would have witnessed Scheffler, McIlroy, Koepka and Dechambeau tee off together on numerous occasions over the years, but these are different times, made challenging since LIV Golf fractured the established world order by going live in June 2022, and the acrimonious engagement between the two bodies thereafter.

Details about the venue, format and appearance money for the players aren’t out yet, but the fact that these four heavyweights have agreed to come together under an umbrella outside the Major championships speaks volumes about the road ahead.

PGA Tour vs LIV Golf TV match — Brooks Koepka (L) and Bryson DeChambeau (R) shake hands on the ninth green after Koepka won their match during Capital One’s The Match V: Bryson v Brooks at Wynn Golf Course on November 26, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Image: David Becker / Getty Images North America/ Getty Images via AFP)

Since June last year, when the PGA Tour and LIV Golf agreed to chalk out the roadmap towards a merger, public interest has been centred on the progress.

Updates have been few and far between, and despite PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s assurances — the latest one coming at the Tour Championship earlier this month, that “we’re moving forward at speed and focused on what we can control, because that’s what we owe to our fans” — questions continue to swirl.

PGA Tour vs LIV Golf: Details about the TV match starring Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau

Changing stance

The PGA Tour vs LIV Golf contest will surely help douse the queries to an extent as the chasm between the two bodies has been about legacy over money, and fear in the PGA Tour board room of more top players shifting loyalties in exchange for lucrative monetary deals.

As key protagonists, the players too played their part in fanning the flames of controversy, but as realisation kicked in over time that LIV was here to stay, the criticism has dwindled.

From a sharply worded statement that if “LIV Golf was the last place on earth to play golf, [he] would retire”, McIlroy, one of the leading critics of the Saudi-funded enterprise, eventually changed tune to say that LIV was beneficial for all those playing professional golf. Clearly, here is a man humbled by board room politics and his inability to meet his lofty standards on the golf course.

When Golfweek broke the news on the upcoming blue-riband made-for-TV contest, McIlroy told the platform, “I’m thrilled to partner Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas. This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s Major champions, it’s an event designed to energise the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.”

The statement bodes well for the future as world golf attempts its biggest conciliatory process.

Unflappable on the golf course, and seemingly unbeatable this season, World No 1 and FedEx Cup champion Scheffler too has been moved by the splintered relationship. During the Players Championship, which he won in March to fuel his prolific campaign in 2024, Scheffler addressed a query on the watering down of competition on the PGA Tour.

“If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left. We have a Tour, we were all together and the people that left are no longer here. If guys want to go take the money and leave, then that’s their decision…at the end of the day, that’s where the splintering comes from… as far as our Tour goes, we’re doing our best to create the best product for the fans,” he said.

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There hasn’t been an update on a definite change in stance, but Scheffler’s presence in Las Vegas is indication enough of a shift in mindset.

More than eager

The plunge in world ranking due to the lack of OWGR points on LIV, and limited playing opportunities outside the league have been major sore points for the top names after they switched over, and it is only understandable that a resolution drives them.

In his moment of triumph after pipping McIlroy to the US Open trophy in June, Dechambeau opened up. Milling crowds and adulation feed the passion of elite athletes, something players like Dechambeau and Koepka have missed the past two seasons.

With the urge to engage more actively with mainstream fans, Dechambeau started his YouTube channel, and its growing popularity found reflection in his words after the win at Pinehurst in the season’s third Major.

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“If I’m to be quite frank, I hope we can figure things out quickly…All I want to do is entertain and do my best for the game of golf, execute and provide some awesome entertainment for the fans. From at least what I can tell, that’s what the fans want, and they deserve that. You can say what’s happened in the past, you know, you were part of the reason…let bygones be bygones and go figure it out. Let’s figure out this amazing game that creates so much positivity [and get it] back to where it belongs,” he said from the winner’s corner.

Koepka, the PGA Championship winner last year, believes despite their absence from conventional events, LIV golfers continue to stay sharp enough to contend in Majors. “We all have the firepower to play well and win a Major championship. There’re a lot of Major champions over here that know how to get it done,” he said.

A potential truce

One more sign of the impending truce was the presence of LIV CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman at this year’s Masters and Open Championship after a gap. While recounting his time at the Open Championships and Royal Troon, the venue this year, Norman spoke up on the burning topic.

“I think in the beginning there was a lot of misinterpretation of the situation. I love seeing the way things have settled down, now. Everybody’s seen that within the ecosystem, LIV Golf has been accepted and the players deserve to be in these big championships,” he was quoted in media reports.

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Despite the optimism all around, PGA Tour commissioner Monahan has advised patience. “When you look at where we are right now, we’re in regular dialogue…We have the right people at the table with the right mindset. That creates optimism about the future, but at the same time, these conversations are complex, they’re going to take time,” he said ahead of the Tour Championship.

High-voltage contest

Likely to be televised by TNT, which has the experience of beaming such exhibition matches in the past, the PGA Tour vs LIV Golf match format is expected to draw from the Ryder Cup, and include formats like fourball, foursomes and singles.

While there will be no prize money on offer, the quartet will receive an appearance fee — though nothing in the range of what the players earn in tournament play.

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The PGA Tour vs LIV Golf TV contest is yet to get a name, but it’s expected to be similar to The Match, an existing series of exhibition Golf matches on TNT. Started in 2018, the opening year was a faceoff between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, and subsequent editions featured McIlroy, Koepka and Dechambeau.

Form check

With seven wins on the PGA Tour and an Olympic gold to go with the slew of titles, Scheffler towers over the field as the World No 1 and FedEx Cup champion.

Former World No 1 McIlroy overcame a frustrating start to 2024 with back-to-back wins on the PGA Tour, but will look back with regret on coming close in the US Open, which would have signalled his return as a Major champion.

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With two wins among other strong results this LIV season, Koepka has been an able leader for Smash GC. His differences with Dechambeau a thing of the past, the five-time Major winner looks set to be a formidable force in Las Vegas.

A two-time individual winner last season, Dechambeau tied the lowest round in an elite-level men’s pro tournament with a 58 at Greenbrier in 2023, and has been at the forefront of his team Crushers’ dominating show the past two seasons.

(Main and featured images: Sean M. Haffey/ David Becker / Getty Images North America/ Getty Images via AFP)