Shadow Creek to host made-for-TV match-play event

Shadow Creek has been announced as the location of a made-for-TV golf event in December featuring four of the sport’s biggest names.

PGA Tour stars Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will take on LIV Golf players Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the 18-hole match-play event on Dec. 17.

Broadcast details have yet to be announced for the event, dubbed The Showdown by its creators, BZ Entertainment. It does not have ties to The Match, a series of previous made-for-TV events that began in 2018 starting with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing at Shadow Creek. Several subsequent events were played at Wynn Golf Club.

Showdown organizers are hoping to capitalize on pitting the top players from the two rival tours on the course together. Because of the current split in professional golf, players of this stature only compete during major championships.

“We all want to see more of the best golfers in the world going head to head, battling it out on the back nine of a tournament,” McIlroy said in a statement. “At a time where the professional game has felt divided, we believe this event can bring fans an incredible day of entertainment.”

McIlroy, DeChambeau and Koepka have played different versions of The Match in recent years. This will be Scheffler’s first foray into an event of this kind.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to compete with these guys in a premier match-play event that fans are really going to love watching,” Scheffler said. “Usually in these formats I have to play against Rory, so getting to team up with him here is going to be a lot of fun.”

Showdown organizers have not said if tickets will be available for the event. The Match events were closed to the public beyond a handful of special guests.

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.