The Skins Game returned under a slightly different format: held on Black Friday instead of the weekend after Thanksgiving, and a reverse wallet that raised the stakes. It wasn’t as must-see as it was when it started in the 1980s, but it was a nice option before football started.
The Grant Thornton Invitational is now a mixed team, a big improvement.
The next step may be the most convincing of all. The “Optum Golf Channel Games” make their debut Wednesday night at Trump National in West Palm Beach, Florida, with teams led by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the two biggest names in golf.
They will compete for points in five competitions, most of which involve time as a factor, including a driving grid, chipping and putting, and a 14-club challenge in which a club drops out of the rotation once it has been used.
“Just the opportunity to present our game in a different way,” McIlroy said. “In a way, you lean a little bit on other sports, like the NFL combine or the 3-pointer contest in basketball or the Home Run Derby in baseball. It’s just an opportunity to try something new.”
McIlroy’s team includes his Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, best friend Shane Lowry and China’s Haotong Li, who is rarely short of entertainment. Scheffler has his Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley, best friend Sam Burns and Luke Clanton.
The timer should keep it moving: two minutes for the driving challenge, three for the short game and one alternating shot format with players on the tee, fairway and two around the green. The lowest score in the shortest time wins.
“I think it’s going to be a fun way for us to compete at the end of the year, at a time when there aren’t a lot of things on the golf calendar,” Scheffler said.
Both team captains are equipped for this. Scheffler is known for participating in all kinds of games with the older pros at Royal Oaks, whether it was a putting contest or an attempt to hit the pole on the driving range.
The 14-club challenge has his attention, especially when all that’s left is a putter for a full shot.
“I’ll probably try to use a backup putter for the 14-club challenge,” he said. “I’m certainly not going to be on the course ripping full putters to figure out that shot. I’m just going to figure that out as naturally as possible within the competition.”
McIlroy said he grew up playing two balls and keeping the worst and best score on each hole. And he remembered some fun games they did during commercial shoots, one in particular.
“They even had me take a flop shot over Tiger, and I was probably as nervous as I had been in a long time,” McIlroy said. “His body is already beat up. I didn’t want to add anything to it.”
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