McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV ‘Showdown’ in Vegas

LOS ANGELES: PGA Tour stars Rory McIlroy and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler will face LIV Golf´s Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in an exhibition event in Las Vegas in December organizers announced Wednesday.

The 18-hole, made-for television event between four of the biggest names from the upstart Saudi-backed LIV series and the PGA Tour will be staged at Shadow Creek. Scheffler, who won the Masters and Olympics among his eight titles this year, and McIlroy, a four-time major winner, will partner against two-time US Open champion DeChambeau, who edged McIlroy for this year´s US Open crown, and five-time major winner Koepka -- the only players to win majors while active LIV members.

The PGA Tour and LIV´s backers, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), are in merger talks but have been unable to complete a deal to reunite golf´s elite players. The LIV-PGA billed as ´The Showdown´, McIlroy said last month at the Irish Open, is less about trying to push those long-stalled negotiations and more about bringing some joy to golf fans annoyed by the three-season split.

“You´ve got the best player in the world. You´ve got two guys in Bryson and Brooks that have won majors in the last two years. You´ve got me in there who -- I haven´t done what those guys have done the last couple years but I´ve definitely been I feel one of the best players in the world.