Getty
Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Scottie Scheffler on the 18th hole green after finishing the second round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 16, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This Wednesday, December 17th, the “silly season” of golf continues with a primetime showdown: The Optum Golf Channel Games. The event will air on Golf Channel and USA Network, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Here, two of golf’s biggest stars, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, will face off as captains at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida.
Teams
Captain Scottie Scheffler’s team will feature Sam Burns, Luke Clanton, and Keegan Bradley. This foursome will face off against captain Rory McIlory and his team, Haotong Li, Shane Lowry and Luke Donald.
Notably, Donald captained McIlroy and Lowry alongside the rest of Team Europe at the Ryder Cup earlier this year. Together, they defeated Scheffler, Burns, and the rest of Team USA, captained by Keegan Bradley. Fortunately for Scheffler and his Golf Channel team, the Golf games offers a completely different style of play.
Both McIlroy and Scheffler shared their excitement about the upcoming event, “I think it’s going to be a fun way to compete at the end of the year for us, in a time where there’s not a ton of stuff on the golf calendar,” Scheffler said.
Meanwhile, McIlroy compared the event to other all-star games in sports,
“Just the opportunity to showcase our game in a different way. Sort of lean into other sports in a way, like the NFL combine or the 3-pointer contest in basketball or the Home Run Derby in baseball. It’s just a chance to try something new.”
Reminiscing on Golf Games
Ahead of the Golf Channel Games, Scheffler and McIlroy have been promoting the event through media calls. Recently, the two recounted their childhood golf games, with Scheffler listing several to show off both his competitive side and his experience,
“I mean, and you name it, chipping contests, 9-hole putting contests, 18-hole putting contests, trying to hit the yellow pole,” he recalled. “[I]f there was competition to be had growing up, I was challenging somebody, and it was always my favorite when the pros were out there.”
Similarly, McIlroy, who often played on his own, spoke about how he would challenge himself,
“I’d play two balls, and I feel like worst ball, if you can shoot a pretty decent score in worst ball, you know that your game’s in good shape and pretty sharp,” McIlroy said.
“So, that’s something I still use to this day, and something that I still feel like it gives me a really good barometer of where my game is, and sort of consistency from swing to swing, or shot to shot and that’s something that I think has been pretty formative for me over the years.”
Additionally, McIlroy recounted a nerve-wracking moment during a commercial shoot,
“They actually made me do a flop shot over Tiger, and I was probably as nervous as I’ve been in a long time. His body is already banged up. I didn’t want to add to it.”
Format
The Optum Golf Channel Games aims to emulate an all-star game, like the ones seen in other professional sports. Unlike traditional golf, the games will feature fast-paced and strategy-based challenges. The PGA Tour summarized the format of each of the five games, as seen below.
Timed drive competition: Players compete in head-to-head duels with two minutes on the clock. They must combine power and accuracy to launch drives into a scoring grid.
Timed short-game competition: A combination of chipping and putting in which players hit shots from multiple locations around the green. Then, they tackle a putting gauntlet from varying distances, with just three minutes to complete both challenges.
Fourteen-club challenge: In this challenge, two teams of two will draw a club from a single bag (including a driver and putter). They will shoot a closest-to-the-pin competition from a designated distance. All 14 clubs will be used, seven shots per player, per side. Once a club is used, it’s out. Also, each team will pick a player to hit a lefty 15th shot.
Timed shootout: Another timed event. This four-player, alternate-shot challenge takes place on three holes with players staged throughout each hole. One on the tee, one in the fairway and two around the green. Lowest score in the shortest amount of time wins.
Captain’s challenge: This final competition will specifically pit each captain against the other. Both will hit from predetermined locations. Shots will include irons from a variety of distances. This includes wedge, pitch, bunker shot, greenside shot, 30- and 10-foot putts.
Sydney Jones Sydney Jones is a sports writer covering all things Golf, Mariners, and Seahawks for Heavy.com. She has experience covering the intersection of sports and human interest stories for multiple publications. Originally from Montana, she recently relocated to Seattle and is enjoying the new experience of being surrounding by live professional sports and rooting for a common team while writing about them. More about Sydney Jones
