Sin City Showdown: Tiger-phil match set
Pay-per-view contest set for Shadow Creek after Thanksgiving
For the past two months, as speculation swirled about a potential match with Phil Mickelson in Las Vegas, Tiger Woods remained a man of few words.
On Wednesday, Woods remained succinct, but his two words carried weight and made “The Match” official.
“It’s on,” Woods tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
He also tagged Mickelson in the tweet and included a graphic entitled “The Match,” featuring the two PGA Tour stars with determined looks on their faces.
The winner will pocket $9 million, and the 18-hole match will take place Nov. 23 at Shadow Creek, a Tom Fazio-designed course in North Las Vegas owned
GOLF
and operated by MGM Resorts. Additional details, including ticket information, were being worked out Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
The event will be available live via pay-per-view. Pricing wasn’t announced Wednesday.
Woods is a minus 180 favorite at the Westgate, with Mickelson at plus 150.
“I bet you think this is the easiest $9M you will ever make,” replied Mickelson, who used his Twitter account for the first time Wednesday morning. He added, “Let’s Do This. #Tigervsphil.”
As part of the live event, Woods, 42, and Mickelson, 48, will selectively make side challenges against each other. For instance, Woods or Mickelson could raise the stakes by challenging the other to a long drive, closest to the pin or similar competition during a hole, with money being donated to the winning golfer’s charity of choice.
“It’s an opportunity for us to bring golf to the masses in prime time during a period where we don’t have much going on in the world of golf,” Mickelson said Wednesday after his pro-am round at Ridgewood Country Club ahead of Thursday’s Northern Trust Open in Paramus, New Jersey. “It’s a way to show a side you don’t normally see by having us miked up to hear some of the interaction between us.”
The hype for “The Match” appears to be coming directly out of boxing’s playbook. An expansive media rights agreement announced by Warnermedia and Turner Sports will include Mickelson and Woods being followed and filmed as part of the HBO Sports all-access franchise “24/7.”
The show is used to promote major boxing fights, including the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus Gennady Golovkin bout Sept. 15 at T-mobile Arena. Several Floyd Mayweather fights have been chronicled by the show.
TNT also will televise programming with select content from the event in the weeks following the live competition. Additional highlights and behind-the-scenes coverage will be available via Bleacher Report’s digital properties.