Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will face off against LIV Golf duo Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the first match between golf’s two rival tours.
The made-for-TV clash will take place in Las Vegas in December and will pit the PGA Tour’s two biggest stars against two of the most widely-known figures on LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed circuit founded in 2021.
First reported by Golfweek, McIlroy confirmed the face-off and said: ‘I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December.
‘This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s major champions; it’s an event designed to energize the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.’
All three other players have also confirmed the match, which will be broadcast by TNT and follow on from their nine previous editions of The Match, a series of exhibition golf events that began in 2018 with Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson.
DeChambeau and Koepka were previously known for their hostile relationship and competed against each other in an earlier edition of The Match. Since both moving to LIV, they have seemingly reconciled their differences.
World No.3 McIlroy, meanwhile, will come face-to-face with DeChambeau for the first time properly since dramatically losing the US Open to the American back in June.
The Northern Irishman will team up alongside Scheffler who just collected a $25 million bonus for winning last week’s season-ending FedEx Cup.
The contest will not include prize money but all four players are reportedly set to receive an appearance fee.
Perhaps more notably, the clash hints at an easing in tensions between the two rival tours which still remain locked in talks over a potential merger after 15 months of negotiations.
Any potential deal could see Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls Premier League club Newcastle United as well as LIV, come onboard as co-owners of the PGA Tour alongside a US-based sports consortium.
However, at last week’s Tour Championship, the Tour’s commissioner Jay Monahan refused to provide a meaningful update, insisting negotiations were ‘complex’.
‘They’re going to take time. They have taken time, and they will continue to take time,’ he said.
‘But I’m not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics. All I can say is that conversations continue, and they’re productive.’
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