Was The Showdown really a victory for golf?

Tuesday night saw the long-awaited arrival of The Showdown, pitting LIV Golf’s premier talent – Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau – against the PGA Tour’s finest – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy and Scheffler dominatedwinning every single match session. But as a symbol of the times, the match was far more significant than competitive.

We caught up with senior GOLF writers Dylan Dethier and Sean Zak to find out if the event was a success, where it fell short and what it means for the future of the pro game.

Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier): Sean, it’s morning Crypto.com showdown and two things stuck in my head. The first is that, no matter how many times he makes them, Charles Barkley’s jokes about losing money gambling get me every time. They’ll show a shot of the Vegas skyline, Chuck will say something like, “I paid for three of these buildings. The dealer says double on 11 and gives you 14 every time,” and I’ll smile. And the second is a tweet that stuck in my head. LIV Golf sent it along with a photo of the four: “The game of golf and its fans won tonight.”

Dethier: It’s funny you say the PGA Tour, although you have a good point – but I’d start by saying that LIV can actually claim a small victory here. They embraced The Showdown. They clearly saw it as a win to get their players to reinvent their league in front of a prime time national audience. There’s a reason the PGA Tour wasn’t crazy about it, and that’s because they had a lot more to lose than to gain from their two top stars giving LIV’s stars a huge platform, while LIV had the opportunity to present himself on an equal footing. LIV also had Charles Barkley berating the golf division on air. And LIV even bought the event as a sponsor, increasing its brand exposure. This is a kind of victory.

But I guess I’m not entirely convinced by my argument. Not only did her guys get smoked, but LIV’s biggest wins keep coming OUTSIDE limits of LIV itself. Think Koepka’s 2023 PGA win, or DeChambeau’s 2024 US Open, or even his massive YouTube viewership. So I would make another “meaningful golf event” winner. As this match dragged into the night and the four competitors looked increasingly cold each time they hopped on their golf carts, it was a reminder that even with four of the game’s biggest stars, it’s the setting and context that makes a golf tournament. and we won’t see that until the new year.

Finally, I’d say it was mainly these four individual players who won – with Rory and Scottie a clean 1-2. Their crypto wallets won. And their ability to host an event outside the confines of the PGA Tour or LIV was a muscle flexion for player empowerment. Now if Scottie can figure out what to do with his winnings…

Sean, what was your favorite part of the night? And what wasn’t?

cerement: My favorite part of the night was when the players were caught talking to each other, their corpses, themselves, etc., and NO broadcast team. We’ve seen nearly a dozen modern, made-for-TV replays of matches, and each one has proven that the words, actions, thoughts, insights that come naturally during a match are the most fascinating part. When Scottie and Rory are analyzing a hook high on a tree. When they’re crying about creatine. When Brooks and Bryson discuss the firmness of the greens and where they are trying to place shots. All of them it came naturally from these things.

But I would like to make an important distinction: THESE MOMENTS ARE NOT ENOUGH.

As much as this match was billed as the best of one rival tournament against another, there was no mockery of the division in golf. There was zero talk about the issues and elements that have divided these guys. Brooks Koepka is one of the most confident golfers to ever live. We got none of that excitement. (It didn’t help that he played poorly.)

I think two things need to happen for these matches to peak: 1) players need to be more comfortable talking out loud while playing, just as streams need to create a better way to capture every word, and 2) if we are going to promote these matches as fierce competition – like this one was! — then the actors have to help us believe it. I apologize for being so long on this, but it’s my strongest thought of the night. And it should serve as a warning/lesson to future TGL: WE NEED PLAYERS TO TALK, NOT JUST PLAY GOLF.

(exhale deeply)

Were there any elements you were particularly inspired by? Or, if not, something you felt was missing?

Dethier: I can’t tell if I’m in the minority or not here, but overall I’d call this a successful event. Like, I liked the watch. It was golf first, broadcasting had its moments, Shadow stream it’s a strange place, inviting in a very Vegas way, and I was also a fan of the format, which resets after four holes rather than taking us on a blast. It was hard watching in the background.

That said, you’re absolutely right about the best stuff being a joke and also for those of us who can’t get enough of it. I think that’s really, really hard—how do you force the interaction without making it forced? — but I actually think one way to do it might be to just mic the guys, but disconnect them from the broadcasters. Take a golf lesson on YouTube. No more headphones, except maybe when they’re on their golf cart. Have the four of them talk to each other instead. Lean into that part of it.

The alternative would be to put Phil and Barkley on the mic and let them run wild.

Last question, Sean: do you do anything about it or (gestures vaguely) Other things happening in golf have you felt encouraged about a united deal?

Zack: I wonder if these matches had a hyperactive reporter on the course who could jump in to field questions (from the broadcasters) at any time – I’m thinking Colt Knost is lobbying for fun bits we’re all wondering – if this could be ‘got them going…

Still, I’m encouraged (despite largely anonymous sources) that Bloomberg reported that a deal was moving forward. I choose to believe that a deal can be done by March 1st (or within the first 100 days of the next presidency!), looking forward to 2026 as the beginning of the reintegration of the Koepka, Rahm, Niemann types back into tour events PGA. I am NO encouraged by last signatures of LIVHowever, because they are golfers I have never heard of.

I think it’s encouraging that Rory McIlroy helped postpone this match because he was taking the reintegration into his own hands a little bit. And he got the best golfer on the planet to join him. And they got the world’s most visible golfer to admit how they want a future together. All of this may be a little too semantic for the jaded, annoyed and lustful golf fan, but as I wrote last weekat this point i will take it.

Dethier: Of course there are signs. It looks like the PGA Tour’s new CEO position and LIV Golf’s new CEO position point to a new future, with a friendlier relationship between the tours. But while I’m an optimist by nature, I admit that I still don’t understand how this fixes everything. There is – well, forget it. This is a chat about a fun four-player fun match. I would welcome another one.