Is PGA Tour vs LIV Golf Showdown More Than Just an Exhibition

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

It seems like only five minutes ago that Rory McIlroy was telling anybody who was prepared to listen that he hated all things LIV Golf.

His stance has, of course softened, most notably when Jon Rahm signed for the breakaway tour at the end of last season. It seemed somewhat bizarre to your correspondent that the Northern Irishman greeted the Spaniard’s defection with the assertion that a European Ryder Cup team without him was utterly unthinkable.

Remember that he had some pretty harsh words for the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson when they made the move. But everything seemed to change with Rahm’s decision.

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And in recent weeks he has once again been holding court, saying that he hopes a peace deal between the PGA Tour and LIV can finally be achieved - and perhaps even before the end of the year.

But you could have blown me over with a feather when it was announced that McIlroy and world number one Scottie Scheffler will be taking on Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in an exhibition at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas on December 17. US Open champion DeChambeau and five-time major champion Koepka are two of LIV’s highest-profile golfers.

So the question is: is this just yet another publicity stunt, or is it a sign that we are finally beginning to move towards some kind of agreement?

You can be sure of one thing - although this is essentially a made-for-TV exhibition, it will not be taking place without the blessing of the PGA Tour. So maybe, just maybe, we are finally moving closer to some kind of a framework that will keep everybody happy. Or as happy as it is possible to be in the current climate.

The 18-hole challenge will pit two of the top-ranked PGA Tour players against two of the leading names from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, with organisers of the made-for-television event clearly hoping that it is going to capture the public’s imagination at a time when TV viewing figures for our sport have plummeted.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

The details of the contest, which is being billed as 'The Showdown', were announced against a backdrop of ongoing talks between the PGA Tour and LIV's backers, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) about a possible merger.

The format of the competition has yet to be finalised but is likely to be a fourball betterball encounter.

Shadow Creek Golf Course hosted the first version of 'The Match', the predecessor to 'The Showdown', between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

World number one Scheffler has won eight events this year, including The Masters at Augusta in April and the Olympic gold medal in Paris, while four-time major winner McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic, Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship during 2024. He also finished second in the US Open and the Irish Open, and tied for runner-up spot at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

DeChambeau edged out world number three McIlroy to take a dramatic victory at the US Open at Pinehurst in June, while Koepka is a five-time major champion who was the first LIV golfer to land a major and make the US Ryder Cup team.

With LIV golfers banned from participating in PGA Tour events, the majors have provided the only opportunity for all the sport's best players to compete against each other in recent years. 

Consequently, LIV golfers have limited opportunity to earn world ranking points, although 14 of them received invitations to compete at the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. And, lo and behold, one of them - Tyrrell Hatton - only went and won the thing.

Hatton and Rahm have appealed against their DP World Tour fines and suspensions and while they wait for those appeals to be heard they are eligible to play in DP World Tour events - and are taking full advantage of those opportunities. Both have qualified for the tour’s end-of-season play-off events. 

How awkward would it be for the DP World Tour if one of them were to pip McIlroy for the Race to Dubai title? And it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

These are seismic times for our sport. You will probably be aware that TV viewing figures for the PGA Tour have fallen off a cliff in 2024 and the tour is finally addressing the issue. They have taken a leaf out of the DP World Tour’s book by instructing players to make themselves available for on-course interviews. This has been a regular feature of Sky’s golf coverage for a number of years and provides a unique insight into how players approach the game.

If you tuned in to the recent Sanderson Farms Championship or Black Desert Championship you will also have noticed a key difference to the Friday coverage. Rather than focusing simply on the leaders, we actually got to watch golfers grinding it out to make it to the weekend.

Of course none of this is of any relevance whatsoever to McIlroy, Scheffler, DeChambeau and Koepka, who will no doubt be rewarded handsomely for their challenge match. As if they need even more money!

I am not a fan of these made-for-TV events but I will be tuning in to watch this one. I recently said that I thought we were a long way off achieving a peace deal. It might be that I am going to have to be prepared to eat some humble pie, and I will be happy to do so if and when we see a deal that it is the best long-term interests of the game.