Now, Shadow Creek has likely solidified itself as the highest green fee for years to come. Golf Digest has learned that Shadow Creek will increase its green fees to $1,000 during its peak season (March to May; plus October and November) and $750 during off-peak. That’s far and above Pebble Beach’s green fees, which are currently $575.

A club official says Shadow Creek’s new rates will be official in a few weeks.

Ranked 27th on Golf Digest’s latest ranking of America’s 100 Greatest golf courses, Shadow Creek had previously been only a jaunt for the richest of Vegas’ rich clients until the public got to see it on TV as it hosted a number of events over the past few years. In May, it held an LPGA event—and in October 2020 it hosted the relocated CJ Cup on the PGA Tour. And of course, Shadow Creek hosted the first edition of “The Match” between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2018.

How can you play glitzy Shadow Creek? Though it is technically open to the public—ranked fifth on Golf Digest’s latest 100 Greatest Public list—you must stay at an MGM property, taking only an MGM-owned limo to and from the course. Of course, all of that isn’t always enough—being a high-roller and working with a casino concierge to set it up is the best way to secure a tee time.

And now, this experience unlike any other in golf will be the most expensive “public course” in golf.

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By Dave Shedloski
Talk about a nifty parlay. Well, of course, Jason Kokrak was going to win his first PGA Tour title in Las Vegas of all places. A favourite disguised as a long shot, the Ohio product possessed more local knowledge of Shadow Creek than anyone, having served for several years as an ambassador for MGM Resorts, which owns the posh, exclusive oasis painted on the Nevada desert floor. And it just so happens that BetMGM, whose logo adorned Kokrak’s hat, also signed a multi-year marketing relationship with the tour in August to become an official betting operator. This week, they provided live betting odds during all four rounds of television coverage on Golf Channel, a first for the tour.

If we didn’t know any better, we’d say the fix was in. And it was. Kokrak, a lumbering 6-foot-4 power player, fixed his putting, which had been the only thing holding him back in his first 232 career PGA Tour starts. And he was money on Sunday, shooting a bogey-free eight-under 64 to win the CJ Cup. In his 10th year on tour, Kokrak outdueled world No. 8 Xander Schauffele to win by two strokes with a 20-under 268 total.

“It feels like home,” said Kokrak, 35, who has family in Vegas and has played Shadow Creek more than 20 times, he estimated. “I’ve played this golf course enough that I should know it by now.

“Pretty special win.”

Kokrak and Schauffele, who can’t seem to buy a win this year and now owns eight career runner-up finishes, put on a pretty special duel, one that was far better than a certain over-hyped, ahem, “match” two years ago at Shadow Creek between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Kokrak’s eight birdies on Sunday was one fewer than the two stars had combined to register in regulation in their $9 million winner-take-all showdown.

Schauffele was no slouch with seven birdies after each man began the final round three strokes behind 54-hole leader Russell Henley. Paired together, Kokrak and Schauffele were tied until a costly bogey by Schuaffele at the par-5 16th, set up by a wayward drive, proved the difference. Kokrak saved par from a greenside bunker on the same hole, converting a four-footer.

For the first time in his career, Kokrak led the field in stroke gained/putting, gaining 2.573 strokes on the field. He made a little more than 401 feet of putts. A putter switch, to a club with a longer, stiffer shaft, that he made late last season has made a huge difference for a guy who ranked 151st in strokes gained/putting in the just completed campaign.

Experience on the tricky greens didn’t hurt. And reliance on his caddie, former tour player David Robinson, to help read those greens was another ace in the hole, so to speak.

“I would characterise it more D-Rob’s work,” Kokrak said, magnanimously. “I mean, he reads them pretty dang good. I did a good job of hitting the spots where we were trying to putt it to. Very happy with how I’ve been putting and kind of paying off with all the work I’ve been putting in.”

Make no mistake, though, Kokrak produced a stellar final round overall, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 17 greens in regulation. In other words, to use another Vegas term, he ran the table.

Quite impressive for a guy who had won more than $10 million in his career but had never hit the jackpot. Twice a winner on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, Kokrak three times had finished second and also had three third-place finishes since joining the PGA Tour in 2011. But there he was calmly steering his way around Shadow Creek in a two-ball with Schauffele after the third member of their group, Jason Day, withdrew early because of a neck injury.

The duel with Schauffele might have helped because he certainly knew all day what he had to do. And the California native wasn’t bad company either. “It was good because Xander and I, we’re friends,” Kokrak said. “Him and his caddie could not be any nicer. A lot of conversation, you know, put my mind at ease in between shots. It’s hard to concentrate for all of five and a half hours straight, so it was nice to chit chat up the fairways.

“He pushed me along just as I was probably pushing him along, making a couple birdies here and there.”

“We talked all day,” Schauffele said after his third straight top-five finish. “I think I was lucky and so was he. We got along really well, and we definitely fed off each other, and it definitely showed in our scores.”

Christian Petersen
Kokrak and his caddie walk on the 15th hole during the final round of the CJ Cup.

Still, Kokrak could have buckled when Schauffele made three straight birdies for a tie at 19 under. The Xavier University product talked later about nerves and about scar tissue. And doubts. “I think anytime that you’ve been out here for that length of time, you definitely have doubts in your mind,” he said.

And now he doesn’t. He was solid until the end. This week’s event, which was moved from Jeju Island, Korea, because of the coronavirus pandemic, was just the right combination of circumstances for a breakthrough. Not that he ever really doubted himself, scar tissue notwithstanding.

“I think I knew, I knew in my own mind that I was going to get it done, it was just a matter of time of me getting out of my own way and letting it happen,” said Kokrak, who with the win, worth $1.755 million, rose from 53rd to 26th in the world, a career best. “Because my game is right there with the best players in the world and I just need to continue to believe so and if the putting’s there for me, we’re going to be right there in contention.”

Odds are, he’s probably right.

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By Joel Beall
The third iteration of “The Match” is reportedly in the works. But it is missing a big, big name.

According to Sportico, a website that covers sports business, Turner Sports is moving forward with another made-for-TV exhibition on Thanksgiving. Dubbed “The Match 3: Champions for Change,” Phil Mickelson is returning for his third appearance in the series. Joining the five-time major winner is Peyton Manning, who played with Mickelson in May’s Match event.

However, Tiger Woods is not expected to be part of the Thanksgiving gathering, according to Sportico.

Woods had battled Mickelson in the first Match in 2018 at Shadow Creek (site of this week’s PGA Tour event, the CJ Cup, in Las Vegas) and in May at Medalist in Hobe Sound, Fla. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who was also involved in the Medalist foursome, will not play due to its conflict with the NFL season.

Substituting for Woods and Brady will be Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and NBA Hall-of-Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley. Curry is a scratch golfer who has competed in Korn Ferry Tour events, is in talks to host his own PGA Tour event and has funded the golf program at Howard University. Barkley was part of Turner’s broadcast team for the Match’s first two competitions.

Capital One is expected to return as a title sponsor, with historically black colleges and universities the likely beneficiary of the money raised by the event.

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By Joel Beall
Aesthetically pleasing as its confines may be, Shadow Creek will never be confused for Augusta National. Still, players in this week’s CJ Cup are finding the Las Vegas course is serving surprisingly well as preparation for next month’s Masters.

“I think this is actually a great place for—you know, to kind of have a little checkpoint of where things are leading up to Augusta,” said Rickie Fowler.

Speaking to the media Wednesday, both Fowler and Rory McIlroy commented on the similarities between the Georgia and Nevada properties. Specifically, the comparisons of green complexes.

“I was saying yesterday with how good the greens are here and how slopey and how fast and how the course is set up, it’s actually—it’s not a bad place to prepare for Augusta,” said McIlroy, who owns five top-10s as the Masters. “It’s bent, the same conditions you’re going to get there in terms of grass anyway.”

Added Fowler: “These greens could be fairly similar in areas to what we may see at Augusta with what they’re capable there with sub-air as well as here. The greens are very firm as of Monday starting into this week, I’m not sure where they’re going to take them. Greens are rolling perfect. I think something, two similarities we may see at Augusta.”

McIlroy and Fowler weren’t the only ones seeing parallels, with Justin Rose singing the same song. “Yeah, this golf course actually is great preparation for Augusta National,” Rose said. “I think the way the greens putt, I think they’re going to be rolling 12, 13 by the looks of it and plenty of break on them as well, so there’s going to be a lot of putts up and over ridges. The way you’re going to have to feed the ball into the hole I think will start to give you the imagination that you need for Augusta.”

To be clear, there’s no replicating Augusta National, and as Mcilroy noted, this week’s climate (sunny, high 80s) is markedly different than Georgia in the fall. Conversely, McIlroy posited that this year’s pre-Masters lineup might serve as better course work than the traditional spring billing.

“Climate’s going to be a bit different, but it’s not bad preparation. Obviously it’s on the other side of the country, it’s not as close, but when you think about the courses that we play leading up to Augusta, they’re all Bermuda for the most part,” McIlroy said. “It’s Florida, it’s different, right? It’s a different test and a different setup. I think here this week and Sherwood next week, I think that’s going to be a lot of guys’ last event before Augusta and I think they’re going to be two good courses.”

Of course, there’s never been an autumn Masters. Meaning the players aren’t exactly sure what to prepare for.

“Honest, I don’t think we’ll really know until Monday, Tuesday of Augusta what we’re really in for just because no one’s really seen the golf course in November, how it could play, how early they were able to get started as far as the overseed and course prep,” Fowler said.

“But as we all know, Augusta, they can make miracles happen, so I’m expecting to see an awesome place as normal, but it is going to play differently from what we see in April.”

The Masters begins on Nov. 12.

The post Why Rory, Rickie think Shadow Creek is a good test run for Augusta National appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

How often, for example, have you been picked up in a limo for golf? We take that back: Have you ever heard of a golf course that requires you arrive in a limo? Welcome to Shadow Creek.

Intentionally, the North Las Vegas site of the 2018 match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson match, and now the 2020 CJ Cup, has remained a bit of a mystery since it was designed in 1990 by Tom Fazio and Steve Wynn. At first built as a private club for Wynn, the Vegas hotel and real-estate magnate, to entertain his clients and celebrity friends, Shadow Creek has been open to the public for roughly 20 years. And by saying it’s “open to the public,” we must clarify.

There are ground rules to being one of the best public golf experiences money can buy. First, your green fee will cost you $600, second only among public access courses to Pebble Beach (which now charges $575, not including a $45 cart fee or a $95 caddie fee, before tip). But in other ways Shadow Creek is the high-roller’s version of Pebble. For instance, you must stay at an MGM hotel to play Shadow Creek. Legend has it even Bill Clinton’s request to play required the same rules. Only two foursomes of $600-paying MGM hotel guests get out on the course each day—taking the limo from the hotel to the course, which is a 20- to 30-minute ride from the Vegas Strip—and that’s limited to Monday through Thursday. The rest of the time it’s invitees only. If you’re a real high-roller at a Vegas hotel, your concierge might invite you to play. But you gotta spend some serious coin to get that hook-up.

Being invited to one of the charitable events held at Shadow Creek is another way to play it. The annual Tiger Jam invitational is held at Shadow Creek, and if you donate enough money (between $17,000 and $30,000), you might even be able to play the course with Tiger’s group. There are a select number of other charity or invitational events also held at Shadow Creek each year, so for those who aren’t Vegas’ richest visitors, you do have a chance to play it.

Once you’re on-site at Shadow Creek, the treatment is superior. I had the opportunity to play there recently, and my caddie kept saying throughout the round: “This is your golf club today. Whatever you want, you can have.” That included drinks delivered to us on the course. For breakfast, order anything you want from the bar, and they’ll make it for you. The veranda on the side of the clubhouse overlooking the 18th hole is an ideal spot to soak in the day.

Shadow Creek debuted in 1993-’94 at No. 8 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest, the highest appearance by a new course in our 50-plus-year history of the 100 Greatest. Its rank has fallen a bit since then, currently sitting at No. 26 on our most recent list. Shadow Creek currently sits at No. 5 on our 100 Greatest Public ranking, behind only Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes, The Ocean Course at Kiawah and Whistling Straits.

The budget used to build this desert oasis was one of the biggest ever in golf. Our Ron Whitten has reported it at $37 million, but that number might even be low. Tom Fazio totally manufactured a lush, green setting for golf with serious elevation out of the desert floor, but he did so in a way that makes it seem like it was natural. Wynn wanted to create some sort of combination between Augusta National, Pine Valley and Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles, where Wynn played a lot of his golf. To me, it was reminiscent of playing North Carolina’s Quail Hollow Club with the incredible amount of pine straw and trees framing every hole. The elevation changes are incredibly impressive—when you consider this land was flat upon arrival.

At the par-3 fifth hole, in particular, massive trees were planted about 100 feet below the desert floor by Fazio’s construction crew—to give golfers the feeling that you’re hitting your shot above a canopy of trees. The tree line has been cut back over the years, but when Wynn still owned the club (MGM bought it from him in 2000), he’d have the trees replaced from his own nursery every couple of years. Imagine that cost? That’s a normal question to ask on any given hole around Shadow Creek.

If you’re in Vegas, have some money to spend and want to live like a high-roller, we’d suggest doing your best to play Shadow Creek. It’s the type of place you should experience. And now after “The Match” with Tiger and Phil, there’s definitely some added intrigue to this already mystical setting.

Courtesy of Shadow Creek GC

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By Brian Wacker
In 2018, Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods in The Match, a $9 million pay-per-view exhibition played on Thanksgiving weekend at Shadow Creek, the swanky Las Vegas course built by hotel and real-estate magnate Steve Wynn and designed by Tom Fazio.

Now the PGA Tour will try its hand there.

Tour officials announced on Monday that this year’s CJ Cup will be moved from Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island, South Korea, to Shadow Creek because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With current travel restrictions in South Korea, which include a 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling into the country from the United States, staging the event in Asia this year became too big an obstacle.

The tournament, officially renamed the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek for 2020, will continue to have a limited field (78 players). It is scheduled for Oct. 15-18, the week after the tour’s annual stop in Las Vegas, the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin, making it easier for players to compete in both events.

“While our players have always looked forward to visiting Korea, the current circumstances provided this new opportunity to bring the event to Las Vegas which will also provide brand exposure and awareness to the viewing audience in the United States and around the globe,” said Ty Votaw, PGA Tour executive VP, International, in a press release. “We are thankful for the partnership and support that CJ Group and the Korean PGA have shown in view of the circumstances. We are confident this year’s event will showcase a stellar field while bringing the CJ Group’s brand values to a new time zone.”

Shadow Creek ranks 26th on Golf Digest’s most recent ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Courses, and fifth among public courses. First constructed as a private club in 1990 for Wynn to entertain clients and his celebrity buddies, its exclusivity was at one time legendary—up until 2000, the only way on it was through an invite from Wynn. That March, MGM acquired Shadow Creek as part of its $4.4 billion purchase of Wynn’s Mirage Resorts, and the course was opened to the public.

Not that a round comes cheap. The greens fee is $500, which also covers a limo ride from the Vegas Strip 20 minutes to the south, and golfers must stay at an MGM hotel in order to play it. Tee times are available on a limited basis and only a handful of groups are allowed on the course each day.

The course has also undergone some changes since it first opened. Originally 7,239 yards, it was lengthened by more than 300 yards as part of a redesign in 2008. A seven-acre short-game facility was added to the grounds as well.

Shadow Creek is also the home to Woods’ annual Tiger Jam Invitational, typically held in May as part of a two-day weekend of events to raise money for the Tiger Woods Foundation. This year’s event was postponed because of coronavirus.

Justin Thomas is the defending CJ Cup champion, having also won the inaugural edition of the event in 2017. Brooks Koepka claimed the title in 2018.

As for the tour’s other two events on its Asian swing—the Zozo Championship in Japan and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, held the two weeks following the CJ Cup—their fates are unclear. Tour officials have not commented about the status of either event. However, sources tell Golf Digest that the Zozo will be brought to the U.S. as well for 2020, with California’s Sherwood Country Club lined up as a one-time host.

The WGC-HSBC Champions, meanwhile, is likely not to be played, with China having cancelled all sporting events for the remainder of 2020 (with the exception of trials that are related to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing).

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By Dave Shedloski
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Phil Mickelson won $9 million and a diamond-studded belt to commemorate his victory Friday over Tiger Woods in “The Match.” But the sweetest prize he summed up in just two words: Bragging rights.

“This has been very special,” Mickelson said with a veneer that radiated relief as much as satisfaction as he addressed his cold and vanquished opponent after escaping the chilly desert air. “I know big picture your career is the greatest of all-time. I’ve seen you do things that are just remarkable. But just know I will not ever let you live this one down. I will bring it up every time I see you. I will wear this belt buckle every time I see you. It’s not the Masters, it’s not the U.S. Open, I know, but it’s something. It’s just nice to have a little something on you.”

With a four-foot birdie on the 22nd hole, Mickelson beat his longtime nemesis to win this inaugural pay-per-view spectacle that had many doubters and detractors but still, in the balance, proved to be entertaining, even if it didn’t quite fulfill its mission as being a truly different golf showdown.

Yes, there were the side bets designated for charity, and Mickelson lifted $600,000 off his opponent by winning three of the four challenges, all closest-to-the-pin competitions on Nos. 5, 8 and 13, while Woods took $200,000 from Mickelson after the latter failed to birdie the first hole.

Harry How/Getty Images
The golf was ragged at times, but both Tiger and Phil finished the regulation round shooting the equivalent of three-under 69.

The event finished under floodlights as the two men played a makeshift par 3 of 95 yards from the practice putting green hard by the Shadow Creek clubhouse to the 18th green three times before Mickelson won it “the way I think we both wanted to win it, by making birdie,” he said.

That was why he conceded a six-foot par putt to Woods on the previous hole after he missed his own six-foot birdie attempt. For similar reasons, Woods conceded a 3½ foot par putt to Mickelson on the final hole of regulation after the 14-time major winner missed a walk-off birdie from eight feet.

The golf was scratchy for much of the day, perhaps showing rust. Woods, 42, hadn’t competed since the Ryder Cup, while Mickelson appeared in the season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. Though he didn’t light it up, Mickelson, 48, proudly proclaimed that, “I drove it like a stallion.” Woods grinned and cringed at the same time upon hearing that, perhaps partly because he struggled off the tee, especially early on. Neither putted particularly well. Of the 22 holes played, nine were won, five by Mickelson including the clincher. Each shot three-under 69 in the regulation 18 holes with Mickelson going bogey-free. Woods had six birdies and three bogeys.

They played the home hole a second time and halved it with pars. Then came the shootout with lob wedges, and though Woods twice missed the green long, they still halved with pars twice.

“It was an entertaining match,” said Woods, whose successful comeback season ends next week in the Bahamas when he hosts the Hero World Challenge. “I mean, we went out there and played hard. I had plenty of opportunities to make putts today and I didn’t make any putts to put a little pressure on Phil. I had an opportunity on the last hole to win the match and I hit a bad putt, and then in extra holes … how do you not hit a green with lob wedge? Twice. So that was an opportunity that went wasted. Phil capitalised on it.”

Getty Images
With Michelle Wie (left) and Norm McDonald (right) in the crowd, and Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley on the mics, The Match had a celebrity feel.

But not before Woods provided the most dramatic moment. After finding the back fringe at the par-3 17th hole and Mickelson sizing up an 11-footer for birdie that could end it, Woods chipped in from 22 feet and offered a low fist pump. Mickelson failed to answer, and the match was all square.

That sequence also offered some of the best dialogue.

“Just like old times,” Tiger said to caddie Joe LaCava.

“You’ve been doing that to me for 20 years,” Phil said when they reached the 18th tee.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the program was a relative paucity of interaction between the two men. And the entire affair was 100 percent USDA Grade A trash-talk free.

“It was just difficult to kind of get into that,” Mickelson said, “and after I won those closest-to-the-pins on the other three par 3s I was ready with a comment for him, and I got caught up in thinking too hard about what I wanted to do there and really thinking about the shot.”

“We had banter here and there, but I don’t know about Phil, but I got lost in the competition of things,” said Woods, who captured his 80th PGA Tour title in emotional fashion in September at The Tour Championship. “I got, you know, focused on trying to hit a shot, to put heat on Phil, to put a ball on a green, to make putts. I got lost in the heat of the competition, which in hindsight looking back, that was fun to lose myself there in the heat of the moment in a competitive scenario against Phil.”

Winner of 42 PGA Tour titles, including the WGC-Mexico Championship in March that ended a nearly five-year winless drought, Mickelson couldn’t help but take one last shot at his opponent at the end of their press conference. It’s the bragging rights thing, and the left-hander knows how to exploit it.

“Just a very special day and something I’ll always be appreciative of the opportunity, appreciative of the 25-plus year career that I’ve had, appreciative of what you’ve done to propel the sport from where it was when I started to where it is now,” Mickelson said to Woods. “Again, doesn’t take anything away from the career and everything you’ve accomplished. Just gives me just a little bit of something extra to bring up next time I see you.”

Will they see each other again in another match, as opponents or partners? That remains to be seen. Neither man would speculate. “I guess it will depend on if people enjoyed it and want more,” said the champ, who definitely wants more. And he has at least nine million reasons.

The post Phil Mickelson beats Tiger Woods in the Match, wins $9 million and bragging rights appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
The pre-game show, featuring the comic stylings of a former basketball star, was one circle shy of a three-ring circus, suggesting a long afternoon under an ill-conceived big top for the pay-per-view Capital One’s The Match featuring Tiger vs. Phil on Saturday.

The telecast from Shadow Creek Golf Club in North Las Vegas wasn’t that, though it occasionally veered into carnival country, usually between the completion of one hole and the start of another. Did we really need the Barkley back-and-forth with Justin Verlander, the latter weighing in via Twitter?

Well, maybe we did, alas, considering the plodding pace of play that required filling desert-like expanses of otherwise dead air time. Two players, whatever the stakes—$9 million in this case—should be able to complete a round quicker than it takes to play a World Series game.

Yet Barkley, for all his buffoonery, provided the most astute observation following two terrible approach shots into the par-4 ninth hole.

“Am I allowed to talk?” Barkley said. “I just want you to know something, America. This is some crappy golf. You all know that. These guys aren’t playing well. They’re both playing awful today.”

Barkley, however inelegantly by televised golf standards, said what everyone ought to have been thinking, that both players were in mid-offseason form. This was not a surprise. Tiger had not played competitive golf since the Ryder Cup in late September; Phil since the Safeway Open the first week of October.

The format, made-for-television and requiring the players to interact, favored the more outgoing, gregarious, and ultimately victorious Mickelson, as Peter Jacobsen noted.

“I think in the challenge of the wills, Tiger doesn’t like to be open. He doesn’t play corporate golf, he doesn’t talk to people while he plays,” Jacobsen said. “Phil does. Phil’s like the maitre d’ at a restaurant. He talks to everybody. He wants everybody to be his friend. This is playing right into his hands.”

Mickelson was in his element. Woods, conversely, was out of his, evidence of which was obvious to long-time observers of his behavior when things go awry, among them one of the analysts, Darren Clarke.

“If Tiger didn’t have a mic on now, we’d be hearing some very different language,” Clarke said on one occasion. On another, he said, “he’d definitely be cursing now if he didn’t have a mic on.”

Ernie Johnson, Peter Jacobsen and Darren Clarke called the action for the pay-per-view telecast of ‘the Match.’

The idea of this television show, beyond enticing the audience with two icons playing for $9 million winner-take-all, was to allow viewers to listen in to the golfers’ interactions with one another and with their caddies.

We heard Mickelson asking Woods how Fred Couples was. Woods apparently had played golf with Couples at the Madison Club in La Quinta, Calif., recently.

“Same as always,” Woods replied, after which each agreed that “he’s the best,” and Mickelson telling a Couples story involving Fred asking for strokes in a friendly money game and Mickelson giving him one aside.

Their early exchanges generally kept those paid to talk from overwhelming the telecast, a refreshing break from weekly PGA Tour telecasts and their incessant talking. More often, given Woods’ awkwardness with small talk, their exchanges with their caddies was more compelling.

When Woods chipped in for birdie from the fringe to square the match at 17, he could be heard saying to caddie Joe LaCava, “just like old times, Joey.”

Moments later, Mickelson said to Woods, “I’ve been watching that for 20 years. I didn’t need to watch that now.”

Yet even with a match coming down to the final hole and what evolved into a farcical playoff (teeing it from the putting green in the dark) with $9 million at stake, it was not especially riveting, given the mediocrity from two of the best in history and the time it took them to underperform.

Related: How ‘The Match’ began—and where it might lead

Whether the show was interesting enough to warrant the series of similar pay-per-view events to which the organizers have suggested, the verdict here is probably not.

Actor Samuel Jackson, a Capital One spokesman and part of the pre-game crew, probably had it right, with this observation before a single shot was struck:

“I think it would be more interesting if they played for half of Capital One’s money and half their own money.”

The post Tiger vs. Phil was not must-see TV (‘this is some crappy golf’), but it had its moments appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The spectacle that was the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match is now in the books, and it was … well, it was something. It managed to live up to the hype while manifesting some of the biggest fears into reality. There were numerous awkward moments, yet moments that were genuinely entertaining. Fans were locked out of their pay-per-view purchases, and others got to watch it for free. And Tiger and Phil … well, to paraphrase the immortal Dennis Green, Tiger and Phil “were who we thought they were.”

Here is a look at the best and worst from the Shadow Creek showdown:

Birdie: Phil Mickelson
The cat just won $9 million (minimum, if you’re to believe the two are getting a cut of the PPV earnings). Not bad for a round of golf.

Bogey: The golf
The first 14 holes were “competitive” in the sense that a YMCA Little Tykes’ 0-0 soccer game is competitive. From the tee to second shots to the short game, everything was off. You know it’s bad when Rickie Fowler, a player, ahem, not particularly known for closing, is throwing shade:

Can we get Temper-Pedic to sponsor #TheMatch?? Bit of a pillow fight going right now haha I won’t these boys to play some golffff #letsgooo

— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) November 23, 2018

Nevertheless …

Birdie: Drama
There was much not to like about the match (as you will soon read), and the cheese factor was off the charts, but damned if it still wasn’t a captivating view thanks to its elementary premise: Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson. Judging by web searches and social-media trends, it certainly kept its audience throughout the show. Easier said than done on a holiday.

Bogey: The broadcast
Viewers were promised an innovative approach, a welcomed vow considering the sport’s presentation has become somewhat stale. What viewers received was basically the same song-and-dance seen every weekend. At least, to those that could see it …

Bogey: B/R Live
Viewers took to social media to air their grievances with the app, posting photos of error messages after buying the event. Then, unable to process the amount of traffic, Turner Sports told Golf Digest that some viewers received the pay-per-view for free. Given the experimental nature of this match, to say nothing of the consumer investment, this was an ill-timed bogey.

Birdie: Tiger’s hole-out on the 17th
Watching Big Cat send Mickelson back to 2003 made this entire circus worth it.

Tiger’s chip-in. ?pic.twitter.com/mEJaeJo8ji

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 24, 2018

Bogey: Tiger’s play after the 17th
Too much adrenaline on his approach at the 18th. A bad drive on the 19th. Couldn’t dial in a wedge from 93 yards multiple times. Safe to say the final hour won’t be on Woods’ Hall-of-Fame highlight reel.

Bogey: The playoff
All that for a 93-yard chip-off? Why not bring the lights to the 17th hole? Where was the windmill? Even the fiercest proponents of the match had to admit this set-up was contrived.

Bogey: Smack talk
For those hoping for jabs and low-blows, we were greeted with talk about kids heading to college and how “great” this opportunity was. Somewhere, Patrick Reed shed a tear.

Bogey: Ernie Johnson and Peter Jacobsen
We love us some Ernie, but a play-by-play man is expected to direct traffic, not cause it. Sometimes less is more.

As for Jacobsen … listen, sports announcing is hard. Really hard. But fans, paying ones at that, deserve better than banality and the obvious.

Birdie: Tom Pernice
There are two types of golfers: Those who were delighted when Pernice’s name fell into the broadcast, and those who live vapid existences.

Bogey: Shot tracer
Let’s just say the fan-favorite illustration was not doing its best William Tell impersonation today.

Birdie: Mark Broadie
The strokes-gained guru was invoked more than Shadow Creek. Banner day for the #BigStats community.

Bogey: Side action
We were told there were going to be side bets, and there were. But many were expecting more, and the ones presented were underwhelming, epitomized by a long-drive challenge on the back nine where both Tiger and Phil missed the fairway. Aside from a $1 million hole-out wager, which neither came close to dunking, this was a disappointment.

Harry How

Birdie: “Side Sauce”
This will become old by tomorrow, but Phil casually dropping “side sauce” was better than anything Urban Dictionary could concoct.

Bogey: Live mics
Phil’s huffing-and-puffing will forever haunt our dreams.

Bogey: Natalie Gulbis
Fans took to Twitter worried she got lost in the desert. Not that we needed more voices, but after introducing the event, the LPGA personality was conspicuously absent until the 18th hole. It was odd, to say the least.

Birdie: Charles Barkley
While Ernie and company tried their best to sell the product as Tiger and Phil hacked it up, Sir Charles summed up the front-nine eloquently: “This has been some crappy golf.” Long live Chuck.

The post Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson Match: The best and worst from Shadow Creek appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson held its press conference on Tuesday in Las Vegas. For those expecting a boxing-UFC fight-night fission in the air, Tuesday was decidedly not that, with the two legends trading cheesy jabs and generally doing their best impersonation of an open-mic comic.

However, the presser did deliver this piece of gold: Mickelson is so confident that he’ll birdie the first hole at Shadow Creek that he’s willing to bet $100,000 on the line.

“So I’ve thought a lot about this and there are spots out on the course that are some great spots for a little challenge and the challenges are coming directly out of our pockets, OK?” Mickelson said. “And I feel like the first hole is a great hole for me. And I believe – in fact I’m willing to risk $100,000 that says I birdie the first hole. So that’s how good I feel heading into this match.”

With some “oooohhhs” filling the room, Mickelson added, “You don’t have to take it. You don’t have to take it at all. But I’m going to throw that out there.”

To which Woods replied, “Double it.”

Congratulations to all those that took the over on the “There will be a $50,000 or more side bet” prop.

That’s not all, as Mickelson later revealed other side wagers could be in the seven-figure range, all which is, ahem, coming out of their own pockets.

Give these cats credit. For $19.99, viewers are expecting a show. And if Tuesday is any indication, Woods and Mickelson are doing their best to set the stage.

The post Phil Mickelson assures there will be “six-to-seven figure” side bets with Tiger Woods, starting with a $200,000 wager on first hole appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.