The Optum Golf Channel Games never stopped moving Wednesday night under the lights at Trump National Jupiter. Fun and fast was the theme—until the very end, when Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler waited anxiously as officials pulled out a tape measure to determine the winner.
The two best players in the world faced off in a playoff after regulation ended in a tie. The challenge: a 47-yard chip-off, a fitting nod to the club’s namesake.
Their shots landed nearly identical distances from the hole. It initially appeared McIlroy’s team—including Shane Lowry, Luke Donald and Haotong Li—had won by an inch. But before officials could confirm, Lowry grabbed Scheffler’s ball and tossed it into the nearby lake. Just like that, Scheffler, Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley and Luke Clanton were celebrating victory just before 11 p.m.
“I thought I got him,” McIlroy said. “It looked like from back there that he was a little further away, but it was great that it came down to that.”
The result mattered less than the proof of concept. This event stood apart from years of made-for-TV matches that eventually grew stale—too similar to regular tournament golf with too much downtime between shots. The variety of challenges coupled with a shot clock kept everything moving.
“We tried something new,” McIlroy said. “And sometimes when you do try something new, it doesn’t work out. But I think this one really did tonight. I think the biggest thing is all the players were into it, and I think that hopefully came across on TV. It was a different format. I think a lot more interaction between the players as opposed to traditional golf.”
The practice area was buzzing by 7 p.m. Among the standouts was young Clanton, who grew up an hour south in Hialeah, Florida. He broke onto the PGA Tour last year as an amateur with three top-10 finishes before turning pro this summer. Though his results have cooled recently as he adjusts to professional life, his star power was undeniable—starting with drives reaching 190+ mph ball speeds, reminiscent of a Home Run Derby slugger.
“You could tell going into this thing, he wanted to do well,” Scheffler said of Clanton.
Scheffler’s team jumped to an early lead after the driving challenge, despite world No. 2 McIlroy outdriving the top-ranked Scheffler.
The short-game contest featured multiple chip shots into different holes, a flop shot over the nostalgic Big Break wall, and a quick cart ride to the practice green for a putting sequence that felt like the NBA’s 3-point contest. With players sprinting between shots to beat the 4-minute time limit, there were plenty of chunks into bunkers. But Bradley delivered one of the night’s highlights—a chip-in that gave Scheffler’s squad a 2-0 lead after two disciplines.
Bradley called the team relay “the most fun” for the players. Scheffler agreed: “The relay was really interesting, a ton of fun… I almost got taken out by a golf ball.” The sight of Lowry sprinting across the fairway like a gazelle while dodging McIlroy’s approaches falling from the sky created lasting memories, as did Li’s infectious giggling throughout the competition.
The 14-club challenge—first popularized in DP World Tour social videos—showcased the players’ supreme shot-making. Clanton again stole the show, finding the green with both a skulled lob wedge and a choked-down, cut mini driver. Scheffler nearly muscled a full gap wedge onto the putting surface, leaving a divot that resembled a sinkhole. Most bizarre—in a good way—were the full putter shots from distance. McIlroy can now say he’s pulled back a mallet from 170 yards in competition.
McIlroy erased a 3-1 deficit in the captain’s challenge—a series of shots featuring only the world’s two best players—to force overtime. Li carried McIlroy’s bag while playfully shouting, “Harry, I’m coming for you!”
In the end, the Golf Channel Games delivered what everyone hoped for: compelling golf, entertaining conversation, good pace, and a photo finish between two superstars.
“We have the core audience, which is great, and we know who they are and we know what they like, but to try to bring a few more people around or bring a few more people in under the tent, you know, doing stuff like this where you make it a little more fun,” McIlroy said. “You look at what YouTube golf’s done, and you see the amount of people that watch that and enjoy that. This is sort of a hybrid of that, right? It’s live, but it’s skills, challenges, and it’s fun and interactive. I think there’s a place for it, just like there’s a place for everything else in the game. I’m a traditionalist, so obviously, the 72-hole tournament golf is what I’ll always want to do, but these one-off things, I think, are additive to the overall calendar.”
He added: “For a Wednesday night in December, I think this was pretty good for golf.”
And it had Li already pleading: “We need a rematch.”
