World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and No.2 Rory McIlroy teamed up to face Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in The Showdown last December, and this year they'll face off against each other in a new challenge match.
The 'Golf Channel Games' will see the world's best two players each captain a team of four in a series of golf match-ups at Trump National Jupiter in the lead up to Christmas.
The event is in association with PGA Tour Studios and will be shown live on the Golf Channel and USA Network on December 17.
The remaining six players in the Golf Channel Games has yet to be confirmed, but the unique format has been - which takes inspiration from some of the DP World Tour's viral videos seen through the years.
Golf Channel Games format
- Timed drive, chip and putt: Solo competition where players try and drive a total number of yards, chip within a certain proximity to the pin, and hole a certain number of feet of putts.
- 14-club challenge: Closest-to-the-pin competition involving one player from each team, where players take turns selecting a club from a single bag (including driver and putter). Once a club is used, it’s out of play. All eight players will participate in four total matchups, which will take place from a designated spot in the fairway.
- Timed shootout: Four-player alternate shot on three holes with players staged throughout each hole: one on the tee, one in the fairway and two around the green. Lowest score in the shortest amount of time wins.
- Captain’s challenge: McIlroy and Scheffler will hit shots from pre-determined locations, including a 100-yard wedge shot, 50-yard pitch, bunker shot, greenside shot, 50-foot putt and a 10-foot putt. The player with the lowest total proximity to the hole wins.
It will signal the end of a busy year for Rory McIlroy, who has the Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, DP World India Championship, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, DP World Tour Championship and Australian Open still left on his schedule.
He has won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Players Championship and The Masters this year and says a Ryder Cup victory would cement 2025 as his best ever season.
"I guess it’s the year that everything came together for me," he said ahead of the Irish Open.
"It was basically the one piece of the puzzle that was left for me to complete [winning The Masters].
"When I look at my career and my whole picture as a golfer, I basically, I’ve done everything I wanted to. I guess everything after that, it’s a bonus, but you have to reassess your goals.
"Obviously I’d love to win this week. I’d love to win next week at Wentworth. But the one thing for me this year to reassess my goals, an away Ryder Cup, after everything that’s happened this year, I would look back on 2025, and there’s no way that I would - if I did have a better year in the game, I’d love to see it.
"But if we were to win an away Ryder Cup with everything else that I’ve been through this year, 2025 would be the best year of my career."
“The Golf Channel Games will be a great mix of skill, strategy, and pressure," Scottie Scheffler said.
"This will be a brand-new way for the players and the fans to experience the game of golf. Everyone knows how competitive we are, and I think the Golf Channel Games will be an innovative competition that will engage the viewers.”
Scheffler's next appearance will be at the Procore Championship next week, where a number of Ryder Cup Team USA players will be in attendance to tune-up for Bethpage later this month.
