Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy decisively defeated Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in the Crypto.com Showdown, an exhibition match held in the early hours of Wednesday at the Shadow Creek course in Nevada. The winning pair takes home ten million dollars in cryptocurrency. “I have no idea how this works, I think it’s time to catch up, I’ll have to ask some questions,” joked Scheffler upon receiving this unique prize in golf history.
The Las Vegas evening was marketed by the organisers as a showdown between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. In fact, it was the first major head-to-head clash between some of the top stars from both circuits, beyond the Majors. The truth is that if anyone has given it relevance in recent hours, it has been LIV, with intense coverage both on its website and on social media, while the PGA Tour has maintained a much lower profile. If we accept the message from those who set up the show, the PGA Tour won by a landslide.
The reality is that there was no contest. McIlroy set up the victory with a blazing start, and Scheffler finished it off, sealing the match on the 16th hole of his singles match against Brooks Koepka. The numbers are indisputable. The duel was divided into three formats: six fourball holes, six foursomes, and another six singles, and the PGA Tour pair won all three. Moreover, a total of 18 points were played, of which Scheffler and McIlroy won nine, tied six, and lost only three.
McIlroy’s start was dazzling. He began with two birdies on the first two holes to put the PGA Tour two ahead. Scheffler, in any case, was not just a bystander but rather covering the back of a Northern Irishman who putted like an angel. They tied the 3rd hole and quickly resolved the fourball by winning the fourth hole. They went three up with two to play to complete this segment. First point for McIlroy and Scheffler.
From there, they moved directly to the second part, the foursome. They jumped to the 7th hole to play the next six holes in that format. It was the most evenly matched format, although always dominated by Scheffler and McIlroy. They tied the first two with clear opportunities missed by Scottie and Rory. By the third, they didn’t forgive. A trademark shot from Scheffler and an easy putt for McIlroy to go one up with three to play. DeChambeau, disastrous with the putter, let a good chance slip on the 10th, and finally, on the 11th, the LIV golfers managed to win their first hole. Thus, they managed to reach the last hole tied, but it was a mirage. Another great putt from Rory on the 12th closed this stretch with another point for the PGA Tour.
There were six holes left in singles format and two points at stake, corresponding to the match between Scheffler and Koepka and that of McIlroy and DeChambeau. The LIV needed to win those two points to force a playoff, while the PGA Tour only needed half a point to win. They didn’t even need to go to the end. Scheffler and McIlroy resolved it on the 16th, which could almost be said to be like winning a match play on the 14th, since remember that only four holes of the fourball were played.
They started the singles by winning the 13th hole with a par. Both Koepka and DeChambeau made bogey. On the 14th, McIlroy went two up, while Koepka won with a birdie against Scheffler. Immediately on the 15th, roles reversed, Scheffler won the hole with a par, thanks to a strange three-putt from Koepka, and DeChambeau cut a point from McIlroy. For that, by the way, Rory had to make a double bogey.
Everything ended on the 16th. Very much in Scheffler’s style. It’s a par 5, and both Koepka and DeChambeau missed the tee shot. Meanwhile, Scottie left an eagle putt. Bam, bam. Two putts for birdie, although he almost made the first one, were enough to win the hole against Koepka and secure that decisive half point (two up with two to play) to win the exhibition.
The cold and the night-time setting were the main curiosities of the match. The players, who travelled in buggies, had a heater in the vehicle to combat the low temperature. DeChambeau, for example, kept putting on and taking off a long down jacket. From the 7th hole, in the foursomes, they played under electric light, with a series of spotlights perfectly arranged around the course for good visibility. In this regard, the organisation was impeccable.
Each pair shared the buggy. DeChambeau and Koepka took turns in the driver’s seat, while McIlroy always drove in the other. On television, there was a much better atmosphere perceived between Rory and Scottie than between the LIV players, especially from Koepka, who was very serious throughout the night. Surely the result, as much as it was an exhibition, stung a bit, and this had something to do with their demeanour.
