{"id":15554742,"date":"2024-12-15T20:27:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T01:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&p=15554742"},"modified":"2024-12-16T19:51:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T00:51:39","slug":"tour-confidential-showdown-scottie-tiger","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-showdown-scottie-tiger\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Confidential: Will The Showdown work? Plus Tiger, Scottie, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Check in\u00a0every week<\/a>\u00a0for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at\u00a0@golf_com<\/a>. This week, we discuss The Showdown, Scottie Scheffler’s 2025 prospects, Tiger Woods’ reappearance and more.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crypto.com Showdown<\/a> kicks off on Tuesday when Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka take on Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. Why does this one have the promise to be the best made-for-TV match yet \u2014 and why might it flop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier<\/a>): <\/strong>Sometimes the golf can take a backseat in these matches (and, for what it’s worth, I’ve been game to watch ’em every time), but here the emphasis is squarely on the golf, and that\u2019s a good thing. They\u2019ve got four appointment-viewing golfers. They\u2019ve got LIV vs. the PGA Tour. If they just play and don\u2019t try too hard, this should be terrific. As for why it might flop? It\u2019s football season. During football season there\u2019s not much oxygen left for any other sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Sens, senior writer (<\/strong>@joshsens<\/a><\/strong>): Par won’t do much good here so it will be four of the best in the game playing no-holds-barred, birdie-or-bust golf. That makes for decent entertainment, especially with the LIV vs Tour overlay. Fairly or not, many will take it as a measuring stick of the rival tours. Dylan is right. Football season is tough competition. But ratings aside, it could be a bust if the banter is as cringe-inducing as it often gets in these miked-up confections. <\/strong>There’s a reason none of these guys has been asked to host a Comedy Central roast.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26<\/a>): <\/strong>Here\u2019s the exciting reality: It might not stink!<\/em> And that pretty much makes it the best made-for-TV golf event since the Brady\/Manning\/Tiger\/Phil match back in 2020. If you’ve decided to assume these events will be insufferably corny until proven otherwise, I think that’s fair. But I also think these are the right characters competing under the right structure, to make something that might be enjoyable to diehards and casuals alike. That\u2019s good enough for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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If Bryson DeChambeau \u2014 already the YouTube influencer he is \u2014 is the most important piece of this match being a hit, which player is the second-most important to its success?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dethier: <\/strong>McIlroy. He\u2019s not the PGA Tour standard-bearer that he was at the beginning of this LIV-Tour rivalry, but he still moves the needle as much as any non-Tiger-Woods golfer in the world. There\u2019s not a weak link here, though \u2014 everybody brings something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sens:<\/strong> Agreed. Any of the four is capable of putting on a scorching show. But next up after Rory has to be Scheffler, the world\u2019s best player coming off an epic season, with a chance to put yet another punctuation on his dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colgan: <\/strong>Scottie is the first long-term, no-brainer World No. 1 in like, a dozen years, and I\u2019d argue golf\u2019s ability to convert his dominance into viewers is the biggest challenge facing the sport after reunification.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Woods returns to the course this week<\/a> for the first time since July when he\u2019ll team up with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship in Florida. Will we learn anything about Woods\u2019 form and health this week \u2014 or should we just sit back and enjoy some family golf?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dethier: <\/strong>We\u2019ll see him swing and we\u2019ll see him walk and we\u2019ll even see him hit some pressure putts! Let\u2019s not get carried away \u2014 not by Woods\u2019 form nor by his son\u2019s. But yeah, I think what we see this week from Woods will give us some sort of hint at what to expect from his 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sens: <\/strong>To borrow from Bobby Jones, there are two types of golf, tournament golf and hit-and-giggle father-and-son golf, and they are not at all alike. For one thing, Tiger will be allowed to use a cart. You can\u2019t do that at Augusta. That\u2019s just one of many reasons why we shouldn\u2019t use this as a barometer of anything more than what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colgan<\/strong>: It\u2019s Tiger playing in a televised golf event. Can we convince ourselves we\u2019ve learned something? Obviously yes. We will, whether we should or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scottie Scheffler won PGA Tour Player of the Year honors for a third consecutive season, matching a feat only accomplished by Tiger Woods. (Tiger won five in a row once and three in a row another time.) If you’re Vegas, what are you setting the odds at for Scheffler to make it four in a row next season? And who would you give the second-best odds to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dethier: <\/strong>Sheesh \u2014 this is a good question. Golf is a fickle game, even for World No. 1s, but given Scheffler\u2019s dominance you can\u2019t go longer than about 2-1 odds. Xander Schauffele is second, with McIlroy just a tick behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sens<\/strong>: For a brief time, it seemed like Scheffler\u2019s putter might undo him. But he straightened that out well enough. Nor did becoming a father slow him down, as it has other players. I\u2019d put him at close to even money, though Dylan\u2019s right again. The next has to be Schauffele. Unless there\u2019s a sudden truce with LIV, the Tours merge, and Bryson gets back into the full-time mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colgan<\/strong>: I would make Scottie a prohibitive favorite \u2014 maybe even odds. He\u2019s been that good. And nobody (sans Schauffele, who just won two majors in one year and STILL lost POTY) is particularly close.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Scheffler, his famed 2012 GMC Yukon XL (with 184,000 miles on it) has been put up for auction with a starting bid of $50,000. Proceeds from the sale will support the Triumph Over Kid Cancer charity. Forget a green jacket or claret jug, what random piece of golf memorabilia would you most like to get your hands on?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dethier: <\/strong>If we\u2019re handing out cars I\u2019ll take just one of the two Genesis whips Will Zalatoris won at Riviera last year. Or, I dunno. Maybe an old Top Flite hat. Good vibes there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sens<\/strong>: I\u2019m not much of a merch guy or a souvenir collector, and I\u2019ve got no romantic attachment to any golf artifacts. But if someone wants to hand me the first-place check from the FedEx Cup at season\u2019s end, I\u2019d accept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colgan: <\/strong>Jim Nantz, if you\u2019re reading this, please let me get a hands on a game-used version of one of those sweet, sweet Vineyard Vines ties.<\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our panel discusses Tiger Woods’ return, Scottie Scheffler’s 2025 and the LIV-PGA Tour match-play showdown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15554743,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-12-16T01:27:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"9aefc1fa-e17a-4444-afcb-47ca173a9b74","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-12-17T00:51:43Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Amu_B-uF6RESvy0fKFzqbdA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[37],"tags":[61912],"class_list":["post-15554742","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-tourconfidential"],"acf":{"enable_chirp_widget_integration":false,"tee_time_button_status":false,"wsum-gated-content":false,"allow_instaread_integration":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"ad_meta":false,"article_template":"standard","featured_image_caption":"Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy will be on opposite sides of this week's Showdown.","featured_image_credits":"Getty Images","art_author":[{"ID":14071055,"post_author":"38","post_date":"2018-07-13 20:47:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-07-13 20:47:50","post_content":"","post_title":"GOLF Editors","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"golf-editors","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-19 13:59:44","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-19 13:59:44","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.golf.com\/?post_type=golf_person&p=14071055","menu_order":0,"post_type":"contributor","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"art_source":"None"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nTour Confidential: Will the LIV-PGA Tour Showdown work?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our panel discusses Tiger Woods' return, Scottie Scheffler's 2025 and the LIV-PGA Tour match-play showdown.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-showdown-scottie-tiger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tour Confidential: Will The Showdown work? 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