McIlroy and Scheffler collected the unusual prize for their victory at The Showdown on Tuesday, where they ran out comfortable winners over Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy couldn’t contain themselves after being handed a cryptocurrency prize for winning The Showdown this week (Image: X/Twitter – @KylePorterNS)
After storming to victory at The Showdown in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler had the perfect response to receiving a rather unconventional reward for dispatching Liv Golf’s biggest stars.
The PGA pair comfortably triumphed over Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in the desert, where they competed in three distinct two-on-two six-hole matches.
McIlroy and world no.1 Scheffler clinched victory in both the opening best-ball competition after just four holes and the alternate-shot competition. They established such a commanding lead that McIlroy and DeChambeau didn’t need to complete their match after Scheffler secured the decisive half-point.
Their reward for dominating The Showdown was a groundbreaking $10million (€9.6m) cryptocurrency purse, marking the first time such a prize has been awarded at a golf event.
And when asked about his plans for the hefty crypto winnings, Scheffler had a clever response up his sleeve. “I don’t know a whole lot about crypto, but this is good motivation to do some research, maybe ask Steve some questions, figure out what’s going on,” he quipped.
Despite their lack of knowledge about the complexities of cryptocurrency, the cheerful duo certainly weren’t dismissing the not-so-insignificant $10m they’d just received, laughing together as their Liv Golf rivals watched on in dismay.
Speaking with TNT broadcasters following the win, McIlroy reflected: “It got cold pretty quickly but obviously Scottie and I got off to a really good start, and then from there it was just about trying to keep the momentum. It was a bit of a battle in the alternate shot and we were lucky to scrape a win over those six holes.”
The Showdown was the flagship event for what now appears to be an inevitable reconciliation at golf’s top tier, serving as a precursor to a potential full-scale LIV vs PGA event over a weekend.
However, with McIlroy and Scheffler barely breaking a sweat against the breakaway golf tour’s members, it served as a stark reminder of just how much progress the Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed movement still needs to make.
