Editor Emma Ballard gives her thoughts on The Crypto.com Showdown and why she won't be watching it.

What has men’s professional golf become? I ask myself this question as the build-up to “The Crypto.com Showdown” continues. On Tuesday night, around 11pm (GMT), a match between Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will take place at the Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas.

Pitched as an (unofficial) PGA Tour versus LIV Golf event, with $10 million of cryptocurrency in the coffers, the match will be decided over 18 holes and three formats, six holes of each one:

  • Fourball (Best Ball): Each player plays their own ball; the best score on each hole counts for the team.
  • Foursomes (Alternate Shot): Teammates alternate shots with the same ball.
  • Singles: Players compete one-on-one in individual matches.

Though not technically part of The Match series which launched in 2018, it remains a TNT production and is following a similar idea. It’s exhibition golf featuring tour professionals going head to head.

Very little to do with demand from golf fans

The Match in 2021 which saw Bryson DeChambeau take on Brooks Koepka left a pretty bitter taste in the mouth after they took their “feud” to the fairway. Whilst a lot of money was raised for charity, I doubt the players did it out of the goodness of their own hearts. Especially after all the effort they made to build the “feud” narrative over six months to make The Match more compelling.

That is why I cannot understand why there seems to be very little pushback on “The Crypto.com Showdown”. As a golf fan, and in this case a men’s golf fan, I feel like we’re being treated like mugs. Nearly three years ago, LIV Golf came on the scene and it became an us (PGA Tour) versus them (LIV Golf) situation. Now fast forward to today and we’re still picking sides but with an underlying narrative of bringing unity to the tours.

It feels like this whole scenario has been part of the plan all along. Divide the men’s game, create exposure, drive revenue, increase purse sizes and ultimately make extremely wealthy male professional golfers (and those around them) even wealthier. Then you host a Tour vs Tour battle with men’s golf’s four biggest names to get everyone talking about the need for unity…

And with all good stories that have a happy ending, the tours will reunite (eventually).

Is The Showdown really about unity?

The Crypto.com Showdown charade has been done with men’s golf fans in mind – it’s what we all want (apparently). Even Rory McIlroy trying to get us to believe in the (supposed) hype:

“I think with everything that has gone on, it was really about us saying, you know what, we’re going to take this into our own hands a little bit and we’re going to do something basically outside of either tour, to give something back to the fans. To show them, you know, at least let them know that we’re trying to provide entertainment … the players want to play together more often.”

With World Number one Scottie Scheffler adding:

“What I love most about the game of golf is the competition. And there's so much talk nowadays about LIV versus PGA and money. I think what most of us want is to just get back to is the competition... the end goal here is to get the game of golf back together.”

Let's just be honest here, the reason these four players are here is not to sing Kumbaya and reunite the tours. It’s another episode in the ongoing saga that is men’s professional golf. *Spoiler alert* - the happy ending part that I mentioned is still a while off. But don’t worry, they’ll all be being paid handsomely between now and then.

So as I head to bed when The Crypto.com Showdown tees off, I’ll be left wondering why men’s golf fans get treated with such contempt by the very players that are meant to inspire us.

What are your thoughts? Let me know via email