PGA Tour players Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will team up to face LIV Golf rivals Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in a match play in Las Vegas next week
Rory McIlroy takes on LIV rivals
Rory McIlroy revealed that it wasn’t “smooth sailing” before the PGA Tour agreed to “The Showdown,” in which McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will face LIV Golf rivals Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
McIlroy, Scheffler, DeChambeau and Koepka will battle it out over 18 holes in three different formats on December 17 in Las Vegas, giving fans their first taste of a PGA Tour vs. LIV showdown. Players from opposing sides of golf\’s recent fallout have only been given the chance to compete alongside each other at the four majors, after the PGA Tour opted to ban players who competed on the LIV setup.
\’The Showdown\’ however will give four of the best golfers on the planet the chance to do battle away from the major stage, with bragging right\’s undoubtedly up for grabs. Ryder Cup star wants to join LIV Golf after “difficult years” in golf This comes as PGA Tour officials continue talks with LIV, sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), over a peace deal. While the tour has expressed interest in PIF, its relationship with LIV remains low-key. With the merger match taking place in Las Vegas next week, LIV is likely hoping to promote the event as its latest move to give more freedom to its game members. DeChambeau, for example, has managed to make a name for himself on YouTube since joining LIV, with the likes of Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm also making appearances elsewhere. But the same can’t be said for the PGA Tour, and McIlroy said he needed some convincing to play in next week’s tournament.
“It took a couple of conversations for them to understand that this could be a good thing in the long run,” he said. “It took some discussion,” McIlroy said of his approach to the Tour matches. Not everything went well, but in the end he got what he wanted… They’ve given us a lot of support.
McIlroy has been one of LIV’s most vocal critics in the past, saying he “hated” the Saudi-backed league even after the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with PIF last June. But since the start of this year, the Northern Irishman has softened his stance and continued to call for unity through the power of the showdown. He commented: “I don’t know if it was to stimulate things with everything that’s been going on, it was really about taking matters into our own hands and doing something outside of either tour to not only give back to the fans, but to show them or at least let them know that we’re trying.”
“We’re trying to bring these players together, and the more opportunities we have to do that, the better,” McIlroy said. “Does it remind people that we don’t play together all the time? yes. But at least we try to unite the best things together. If we can start by doing something like this, that’s only a good thing.”
