Was the Showdown actually won by golf?

Tuesday night saw the long-awaited arrival of The Showdown, pitting LIV Golf’s top talent – Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau – against the PGA Tour’s best – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy and Scheffler dominated, winning each period of the match. But as a sign of the times, the game was more meaningful than competitive.

We called senior GOLF writers Dylan Dethier and Sean Zak to break down if the event was a success, where it fell short and what it means for the future of the professional game.

Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier): Sean, it’s the morning after the Crypto.com Showdown and two things stick in my head. The first is that, no matter how many times you make them, Charles Barkley’s jokes about losing money gambling always get me. They’ll show a picture of the Vegas skyline, Chuck will say something like, “I paid for three of those buildings. The dealer says double 11 and he gives you 14 every time,” and I’ll laugh. And the second tweet that’s stuck in my head. LIV Golf posted it along with a photo of the four of them: “The game of golf, and its fans, won tonight”.

Dethier: It’s funny you say the PGA Tour, although you make a good point – but I would start by saying that LIV would want a little win here. Embrace the Show. They clearly saw that it was a win to have their players play in their league again in front of a first world audience. There’s a reason the PGA Tour wasn’t crazy about this, and it’s because they had a lot more to lose than to gain with their two top stars by giving LIV’s stars a bigger platform, while LIV had an opportunity to showcase themselves equally. LIV also featured Charles Barkley’s golf segment on the broadcast. And LIV even bought into the event as a sponsor, which increased their brand exposure. That’s some kind of win.

But I guess I’m not entirely convinced of my argument. Not only did its boys get smoked, LIV’s big wins just kept on coming outside the limits of LIV itself. Think of Koepka’s 2023 PGA win, or DeChambeau’s 2024 US Open, or even his massive YouTube viewership. So I would make another winner of “meaningful golf events.” As the game continued into the night and the four contestants looked to be getting better every time they hopped on their golf carts, it was a reminder that even the four biggest stars of the game, the setting and context make for a golf tournament, and we won’t see that until the new year.

Finally, I would say that it was mainly these four players who won individually – with Rory and Scottie a clear 1-2. Their crypto wallets won. And their ability to hold an event outside the confines of the PGA Tour or LIV was a flexing of the player’s muscle. Now if only Scottie could figure out what to do with his winnings…

Sean, what was your favorite part of the night? And what was missing?

Zak: My favorite part of the night was any time the players were caught talking to each other, their caddies, themselves, etc., and not broadcast team. We’ve seen about a dozen iterations of modern, made-for-TV plays and every single line has proven that the words, actions, thoughts, details that come naturally during the play are the most interesting part. When Scottie and Rory were analyzing the high hook on top of the tree. When they cry about creatine. When Brooks and Bryson discuss the hardness of the green and where they are trying to shoot. Everything of these things arose naturally.

But I would like to make an important distinction: THESE TIMES WERE ENOUGH.

As for how much this game is billed as the best of one competitor versus the other, there has been zero missing in terms of golf division. There was some trash talk about issues and things that separated these guys. Brooks Koepka is one of the most confident-bordering-on-cocky golfers to ever live. We found nothing in that emotion from him. (It didn’t help that he played badly.)

I think two things have to happen for these games to reach the top: 1) players need to be more comfortable speaking out loud while playing, just like broadcasts should create a better way to capture each word, and 2) if we are going to promote these games as intense competition – as it were! – then the actors need to help us believe. Sorry for taking so long on this, but it’s my strongest thought of the night. And it should serve as a warning/lesson to future TGL: WE NEED PLAYERS TO TALK, NOT JUST GOLFERS.

Is there anything that inspired you? Or, if not, something you feel is missing?

Dethier: I can’t say that I’m in the minority or that I’m not here, but overall I can call this event a success. Like, I enjoyed the watch. It was golf first, the broadcast had its moments, Shadow Creek is a weird, Vegas-style attraction, and I was a fan of the format, too, which restarts after four holes instead of putting us in a blast. It was a solid rear view.

That said, you’re absolutely right about the best things being banter and about us not getting enough of that. I think this is really hard – how do you force communication without forcing it? – but actually I think another way to do it might be to bring the guys together but cut off their connection to the broadcasters. Take a lesson on YouTube golf. No more ear clips unless they are on their golf cart. Instead, let the four of them talk to each other. Focus on that part of it.

Another would be to get Phil and Barkley on the mic and let them run.

Last question, Sean: do anything with this or [gestures vaguely] Are there other things that happen in golf that you feel motivated about the deal that comes together?

Zak: I wonder if the games had a hard working reporter who could jump in and field questions (from the broadcasters) at any time – I think Colt Knost talks about fun things we all wonder – if that could be found. i go…

Still, I’m encouraged (despite the many unknowns) that Bloomberg is reporting that a deal is in the works. I choose to believe that an agreement can be made on March 1 (or within the first 100 days of the next presidency!), I look forward to 2026 as the beginning of the reunification of the types of Koepka, Rahm, Niemann back in PGA Tour events. i am not I’m encouraged by LIV’s recent signings, though, because they’re golfers I’ve never heard of.

I think it’s encouraging that Rory McIlroy helped push this game into existence because he was taking the return into his own hands a little bit. And he got the best golfer in the world to join him. And they got the world’s most visible golfer to admit that they want a future together. That may seem like a little much to jaded, pissed off, lustful golf fans, but as I wrote last week, for now I’ll take it.

Dethier: There are definitely signs. It seems that the new CEO position of the PGA Tour and the new CEO position of LIV Golf point to a new future, with a good relationship between the tours. But while I’m naturally optimistic, I admit I still don’t see how that fixes everything. There is – well, forget it. This is a conversation about a fun game with four fun golfers. I can accept another one.