TIGER, THOMAS EDGE RORY, ROSE
In a closely-fought match that boiled down to the closest-to-the-pin competition, Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas edged European stars Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose during their 18-hole exhibition match at Payne’s Valley in Missouri Tuesday.
The Ryder Cup-style match was held in Woods’ new course design and featured six holes of four-ball, six of alternate shot and seven of singles play.
McIlroy and Rose won the four-ball portion to take a 1-0 lead after six holes, but Woods and Thomas took the next six holes to pull abreast, 1-1.
In singles play, Woods and Rose faced off while McIlroy and Thomas recreated their 2018 Ryder Cup match.
Rose nearly aced the 16 on his way to victory over Woods.
The McIlroy-Thomas match provided the highlight.
McIlroy touched the lip on three of their holes, left a chip 1 inch from falling and birdied the 18th, but still trailed Thomas by a hole going to the par-3 19th.
In his CBS Sports report, Kyle Porter wrote that “at one point, McIlroy joked that he was going to decline to give Thomas the ride home (think plane, not car) to Florida that Thomas was expecting.
Thomas birdied the 19th hole to clinch the match and force the tiebreaker.
The 19th is a cavernous hole surrounded by cliffs and water.
With legends Jack Nicklays and Garry Player watching, the foursome teed off and Thomas won it for their team by sticking his tee shot closest to the pin.
Porter wrote that “Thomas carried the day on television — as he often does — and Tiger’s first public course shined.”
All players had microphone clipped on their clothes so the viewers heard Rose and Woods talk about shafts, McIlroy and Thomas discuss pizza options.