Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have officially set up a four-man team for the next golf exhibition, the Golf Channel Games, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Trump National Golf Club Jupiter in South Florida. Each squad features a good friend of the de facto captain, a familiar face from Bethpage Black, and a selection of wildcards.
McIlroy’s team consists of Shane Lowry, Haotong Li and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. Scheffler will unveil a lineup that includes Sam Burns, Luke Clanton and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.
In Trump National Jupiter, there are five formats that contestants must go through. The first is a timed drive competition, where players go head-to-head with two minutes left to hit a drive into the scoring grid.
In short game competition (chipping and putting), players compete individually to chip the ball within a set distance of the pin and hole a putt of a specified number of feet within a set three minutes.
Players then take part in a 14 Club Challenge where two competitors face off against each other. Two teams take clubs from the same golf bag and hit shots from a predetermined distance down the fairway during a near pin contest. Clubs are eliminated once used. This means each player will take seven different shots using all 14 clubs.
All eight players participating in the tournament will compete in four head-to-head matches.
The next format involves team strategy, as it involves a timed shootout with four players taking turns taking shots across three holes. Teammates are placed in specific positions (one on the tee, one on the fairway, two on and around the green), and the team with the highest score in the shortest amount of time wins.
In the end, McIlroy and Scheffler will face off in the Captain’s Challenge. Each player hits shots from different distances, including bunkers, greenside, 30-foot and 10-foot putts. The person whose shots have the shortest total distance from the hole wins.
