Scottie Scheffler’s four-man team eclipsed Rory McIlroy’s team to win the inaugural Golf Channel Games under the lights at Trump National Golf Club in Florida.
The one-of-a-kind exhibition event saw the World No. 1 and his team comprising of Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, and Luke Clanton take on a team lead by the Grand Slam winner McIlroy and his team of Luke Donald, Shane Lowry, and Haotong Li.
The event revolved around five different challenges starting off with a timed drive challenge which focused on power and accuracy followed by a timed short-game competition which tested chipping and putting skills. Scheffler’s team collected the first two points with victories in both of the challenges giving them the early advantage with three challenges remaining.
The third challenge and arguably most entertaining, the team relay, saw McIlroy’s team respond to halve the deficit after they managed to complete the challenge in the fewest shots and in the fastest time. But Scheffler’s team restored their two-point advantage in the fourth challenge, the 14-club challenge where two players from both team drew a club from a single bag in a closest-to-the-pin challenge.
However, the final challenge named the captain’s challenge saw the opportunity for McIlroy to drag his team back into contention thanks to the bonus point on offer. Scheffler and McIlroy squared off in the challenge that tested a variety of shots but it was the Northern Irishman who came out on top to take the points and force a play-off.
The captains came to battle once more in a closest-to-the-pin challenge which saw the PGA Player of the Year judged to have been closer to seal a tight victory for his team in the first Golf Channel Games.