Rory McIlroy for MVP, plus 9 things we learned from The Showdown

The long-awaited PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf battle – which no tour was directly linked to! — finally arrived Tuesday night in Vegas. Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler faced Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the Shadow stream in a match billed as Coping. And over the course of four hours, golf fans saw something they’re used to NO watching. It was LIV’s best against the PGA Tour’s best in a not-so-big setting. It was under the lights and with the microphone golfers. it HAD to live up to the hype, right?

A kind.

Here are 10 observations we took away from Tuesday night in Vegas.

1. This format worked!

Much has been made of how difficult it is to keep viewers interested throughout an 18-hole round of golf. Showdown found a way to do that, breaking 18 holes into three 6-hole matches, each with its own format. The first was dedicated to four-ball, the second to a mini-foursome (alternate stroke) and the last six holes to singles matches. Each of those matches was worth one point, which meant that no matter the outcome, there would be something to play for until (at least) the 15th hole.

Ironically, the match really wasn’t close – keep scrolling for the score – but in many ways that’s an argument for its structure. A not close match in THIS the format was still intriguing for four hours. Was it fun the whole time? This is another story. But the result was not in hand until recently.

2. The best shot of the day didn’t matter

It felt like a pivotal moment when Bryson DeChambeau drained an 8-iron from 213 yards on the par-5 4th hole. He yelled at her for it draw and draw and draw and he did, bordering on the front edge of the green and extending to four feet. He and Brooks were two down in the four-ball session and they badly needed it.

Rory and Scottie were both short of the green and about 40 yards away. If Bryson could make his eagle shot, the LIV team would go back to 1 down and have some momentum. Unfortunately for them, McIlroy hammered his tee shot through the fringe, up the hill and into the jar, adding a little fist pump to go with it. The classic golf term for this? or Mongol overthrowas we remembered in this year’s Presidents Cup, which was made official when DeChambeau pulled his eagle putt left of the hole. Suddenly, the PGA Tour stars had won the opening session 3 and 2.

3. That’s right – Rory came to play

From the first hole, it was clear that Rory had some of his best stuff, and his opponents may have been a little rusty. McIlroy dropped a dart to the first green and made birdie. He then added another birdie on the second hole, pushing his team 2 up. He and Scheffler won the first alternate stroke hole and held that lead until Brooks and Bryson finally won their first hole of the day at the 11th (ninth).

“Welcome to the tournament,” Koepka quipped as they reached the 12th set. When he and Bryson triple bogeyed the 12th, it was up to McIlroy to win the session. He did just that, easing his 4-footer into the center of the cup. McIlroy stayed hot, birdying the first two holes of his singles match against Bryson, effectively sealing the match at that point. The matchup officially ended when Koepka’s birdie putt on the 16th hole missed. (Let the screenshot below serve as a visual for how their night went.)

4. Greg Norman was there. And that’s exactly what he wanted

The outgoing CEO of LIV Golf was posted behind the first tee box when The Showdown began, even though the event took place without any involvement from LIV or the PGA Tour. I couldn’t help but think that a player-run match that doesn’t directly benefit any golf tournament is exactly what Norman would have enjoyed creating in the 1990s when he began his saga of player empowerment.

5. Charles Barkley wants a pro golf union ASAP

Barkley’s voice was once again the best part of a made-for-TV golf match, vociferously mocking anything that caught his fancy. One such topic he brought up several times was that he wants a merger between the two warring golf tournaments – and he wants it done yesterday. Barkley said he thinks “some things are going on in the background” that he doesn’t agree with, putting LIV players at a disadvantage. Without detailing exactly what he meant, Barkley made it clear that he wants the best players from both sides to play together much more often than we do now.

“I can say whatever I want,” Barkley said, pulling no punches. “I’m not worried about getting fired.”

But that’s the thing, Chuck. Most of us are nodding along with you.

6. Mic’d up golf is still glitchy

Matches made for television are complicated, largely because of the precedent now set for players to be on the microphone at all times. The audio feed from the stream can be sent on command to the AirPods worn by the players, but is often kept silent so that the players can focus properly.

This system is mostly good, as long as it works when you want it to. The first time Brian Anderson tried to communicate with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy — as they walked off the first tee — neither player could hear the transmitter. It took several minutes before the microphone situation was detected, a reminder that these broadcasts are not perfect. DeChambeau even removed his AirPods on the back nine, for undisclosed reasons, just icing on the cake of a shaky audio experience.

7. The desert is wonderful. And cold too

This match was originally scheduled to be played in September, but was postponed to this week. This wouldn’t be a problem if the boys consumed it at noon, but they started at 4pm local time. The sun set about 30 minutes after they took off, providing an incredible sunset but also dropping the temperature. By the time they reached nine, the sensible temperature was about 50 degrees. In the end, it was the mid-40s.

DeChambeau rocked a park from the 1st tee. Scheffler quickly added a wool vest with a hood. Golf carts were equipped with space heaters that pushed warm air directly to their passengers. They got a lot of use!

As a result, Shadow Creek played hard. The greens were played as hard as they could, sending shots that landed close to the hole on tricky lies beyond the green. Koepka and DeChambeau tried to get a feel for the green speeds throughout. There’s a lesson in that, folks. Hard golf is what we love!

8. We needed more MONTHS

Since then, we’ve witnessed nearly a dozen made-for-TV matches Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson kicked off the genre in earnest in 2018. If we’ve learned anything in the past six years, it’s that golf itself isn’t all that fun. Rather, the most entertaining aspects come from the swagger, knowledge and natural banter that comes from the world’s best players. We know it exists because we see it all season long on Tuesday afternoon cash games.

And yet, regardless The confrontation is being billed as a tougher contest than past matches, we hardly got any banter between the rivals. And because of the occasional delay in microphone access, we struggled to get timely insights. Three seasons of pent-up anxiety that has enveloped the sport were there for the taking if these athletes would just … scold each other a little. CBS broadcaster Colt Knost took to Twitter with a very simple stance: Release this thing! Talk some trash! Say… something.

10. Scottie doesn’t know crypto

Speaking of sponsors, we spent part of last week in virtual press conferences with all four participants. One question asked in each: what is your involvement and/or understanding of cryptocurrency? Both Koepka and DeChambeau admitted to holdings in the non-traditional currency, while Scheffler and McIlroy did not. Well, now them all of them they do, because the last team ended up getting their share of $10 million worth of cryptocurrency.

When asked afterward how this will fit into his portfolio, Scheffler was as candid as you’d expect.

“I don’t know much about crypto, but this is a good motivation to do some research,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe ask some questions to figure out what’s going on.”

No doubt! Congratulations Scottie and Rory. And on the PGA Tour … sort of.