In some ways, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have been training for the Optum Golf Channel Games their whole lives.
Yes, golf is golf, but the two megastars of the sport haven’t always taken the traditional route with their practice and play. Take McIlroy, for example, who played a ton of solo rounds as a kid around Holywood Golf Club in his native Northern Ireland. To really gauge where his game was at, McIlroy would play two balls and then hit every subsequent shot from the worst of the two positions. McIlroy once recalls shooting 3 under on his childhood layout, maybe even 4 under.
“That’s something I still use to this day,” McIlroy says.
Scheffler was around the same age when he used to saddle up to PGA Tour players such as Harrison Frazar, Justin Leonard and Colt Knost at Royal Oaks in Dallas.
“You name it, I mean, chipping contests, nine-hole putting contests, 18-hole putting contests, trying to hit the yellow pole,” Scheffler said, referring to the little poles on Royal Oaks’ driving range. “… They showed up on the range, and if I was there, they knew something was gonna happen.”
Next week in South Florida, something will happen. Producer Mark Loomis called it an All-Star weekend but with golfers, a new spin on Drive, Chip and Putt, mixed with some elements of Golf Channel’s Big Break, a shot clock, and eight of the top professionals in the game.
One of the goals, Loomis adds, is this: “How do we do some stuff that people maybe haven’t seen before?”
The result: These Golf Channel Games.
The first-of-its-kind competition pitting four-man teams captained by Scheffler and McIlroy, currently the top two players in the world, will take place Dec. 17 starting at 7 p.m. ET at Trump Jupiter. The event will be broadcast live on Golf Channel and USA Network and produced by Loomis, who will have TrackMan, drone tracing and plenty of cameras at his disposal. The competition arena will employ the club’s driving range and practice area, plus hole Nos. 1, 9 and 18.
The challenges include timed driving and short-game competitions, a 14-club challenge, team relay and captain’s challenge, which is only one of the five challenges that won’t feature all eight competitors. McIlroy and Scheffler will determine the matchups, with a coin flip deciding who gets to name a player/duo or defer for each challenge.
McIlroy will team with Shane Lowry, Luke Donald and Haotong Li while Scheffler’s squad will feature Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley and Luke Clanton.
“Scottie and I have been a part of some of these [made-for-TV] matches before, and you know, they’re great and hopefully they’ve provided some entertainment, but I just think this is an opportunity to do something different,” McIlroy said. “Sort of lean into other sports in a way, like the NFL Combine, or the 3-Point Contest in basketball, or the Home Run Derby in baseball. It’s just a chance to try something new, try something different. And I think we’ve put together a collection of pretty good players, different personalities, different skillsets, and I think it’s going to be really cool to see us go up against each other in some of these different challenges.”
Most of the challenges boil down to hitting the shots, even if some of them will have to clear that 10-foot flop wall made famous on Big Break, a show that Scheffler noted he enjoyed watching growing up. But the 14-club challenge has the potential to throw these pros off their games, with players having to hit a green from presumably mid-iron distance with every club in the bag, including the putter. Scheffler says he will carry a backup putter, just in case he pulls the short straw, though he likely won’t practice that shot in the leadup.
“I’m definitely not gonna be out on the range ripping full putters trying to figure out that shot,” Scheffler said. “I’m just gonna figure that one out as naturally as possible within the competition.”
The potential for a lefty shot, though, has both players’ attention. McIlroy is fairly confident in his oppo abilities, though he admits the driver only flies 180 yards or so. Scheffler, meanwhile, is at least honest.
“My lefty game is not very good to say the least,” Scheffler said. “And Sam, you know, one of my partners, his is not much better either. … Maybe that’s something that I’ll hit a few lefty shots this next week [in preparation].”
McIlroy’s prep included a TaylorMade shoot last week with Tiger Woods and other brand ambassadors. McIlroy was tasked with hitting a flop shot not over a wall but Woods himself.
“I was probably as nervous as I’ve been in a long time,” McIlroy said. “His body’s already banged up, I didn’t want to add to it.”
How’d it go?
“He lived to tell the tale,” McIlroy added.