Does golf really need it? another one The fat season event?
The debut of the highly-watched Optum Golf Channel Games on Wednesday night proved that. . . yes, it just can.
If you missed the action from Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., two teams of four pros — one captained by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and the other from world no.2 Rory McIlroy — competed in five skill challenges: timed drives, which were set up as head-to-head duels in which players bombed tee shots into a scoring grid; Short timed tee shots, in which players hit a series of chips before rushing in a golf cart for a short trip to a green for a timed putting contest; a 14-club challenge, in which players battled it out in a closest match with every club in the bag; a frantic team relay, in which each team played a hole together, alternating shots between teammates; and, finally, the captain’s challenge, which pitted just McIlroy and Scheffler against each other in a test of their short-game acumen.
The event opened with the least compelling of formats: the long drive competition – we already know these guys can bomb it! — which was saved only by the youthful, wide-eyed energy of Luke Clanton (Team Scheffler), who proved to be the surprise star of the evening (his 170-foot by 15-foot bladed wedge wowed his peers). As the event progressed, it became much more interesting with players breaking into a nervous sweat flop shot on a wall inspired by the “Big Break”; rushing 5-footers (and missing them); and teaming up for team relays that had all the joy of an end-of-year primary school field event, albeit played by extremely capable primary school pupils.
it it’s what golf fans have been clamoring for: not another dormant four-ball exhibition in the desert or a reboot of a money-match format that worked a generation ago. No, golfers have instead been looking for golf’s answer to MLB’s Home Run Derby, a you-don’t-see-every-week contest through which the world’s most talented golfers can showcase those talents in new and exciting ways. And also. . . unpleasant ways. Really, that was the key. Put the boys on the clock. Make them work as teams. Take the clubs out of their bags. Tease their abilities in ways we’ve never seen before.
“We tried something new,” McIlroy said afterward. “And sometimes when you try something new, it doesn’t work. But I think that really tonight. I think the biggest thing is that all the players were into it, and I think that showed on TV.”
The night deserved an unforgettable ending and it delivered. At the height of the captain’s challenge, Scheffler and McIlroy were locked out. Playoff: a captain-vs.-captain do-or-die chip from 47 yards. McIlroy played first, calmly hitting his drive to 6 or more feet. Scheffler followed with a terrific chip of his own to … yes, 6 or so feet.
The early indication was that McIlroy’s putt was a little closer, but it was too close to call. Out came PGA Tour rules official Ken Tackett on tape. After measuring the distance of each ball from the cup, Tackett initially declared McIlroy the winner.
But when Scheffler’s team members asked for a rematch, the tape’s narrative told a different story. As Tackett was, for the second time, sizing up Scheffler’s ball, McIlroy’s teammate Shane Lowry looked to the tape and could see the decision was about to be overturned. Resigned to his team’s fate, Lowry took Scheffler’s ball and tossed it into a greenside pond.
An unexpected end to that unexpectedly successful night.
