Capital One's 'The Match' 7: Storylines for Woods, Mcilroy vs. Thomas, Spieth

There have been 1-on-1 matchups featuring a pair of professional golfers. There have been 2-on-2 exhibitions with golfers teaming up with former/current football and basketball players. But the seventh edition of Capital One's The Match will feature something new.

For the first time in the series' history, the upcoming version of The Match will pit four pro golfers against each other in a 2-on-2 format. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will take on Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla. The event will air live on TNT.

Those four golfers have combined to win 24 major tournaments. So it should be exciting to watch them compete in a 12-hole best-ball format in which each duo will use the best individual score from each hole.

Here are some storylines to follow heading into The Match 7 on Saturday.

Woods was supposed to play in the Hero World Challenge last weekend. However, the 46-year-old had to pull out of the tournament due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. So he still hasn't played at an event since missing the cut at The Open Championship in July.

But Woods is ready to go for The Match on Saturday. It will help that he can use a golf cart to travel between holes, as the long walks on courses have presented the biggest issue.

"I can hit golf balls. It's just hard getting from point A to point B, so [the cart] will certainly help a lot," Woods said, per ESPN's Mark Schlabach.

Of course, this event is all about having fun and playing for charity. But Woods has played to win in his previous The Match appearances. He lost to Phil Mickelson in the first edition held in November 2018, but he came back and was victorious in the second iteration in May 2020, when he teamed with Peyton Manning to beat Mickelson and Tom Brady.

Any time that Woods is on the greens, there's the potential for something exciting to happen, and that includes Saturday.

Maybe Woods won't play at the highest level on Saturday, because even though he'll have a golf cart, it doesn't change the fact that his foot has given him issues. But he could still win due to the best-ball format. And he has a great teammate to rely on in McIlroy.

"I can tell you one thing: I've got the No. 1 player in the world on my team, so I'm good," Woods said, per Schlabach. "He'll have the best cheerleader he's ever had."

McIlroy, who will be making his first appearance at a The Match event, hasn't played a ton of tournaments of late, but the 33-year-old has fared well when he's been active. He won the Tour Championship in August, and he was also victorious at The CJ Cup in October.

There's a good chance that McIlroy will play a bit better than Woods on Saturday. And if the duo wins, it will likely be because of McIlroy putting on an impressive performance.

Neither Thomas nor Spieth has previously played in a The Match event. What better way to have them make their debut than by teaming them up to form an impressive duo?

Thomas is at No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking, while Spieth is at No. 14. They also have both played in a competitive setting recently. Last weekend, Thomas had a fifth-place finish at the Hero World Challenge. Spieth finished 15th.

So these two won't have any rust to shake off. And if either has a bad showing on a particular hole, he can hope the other fares better. There may not be too many holes on which both Thomas and Spieth struggle, boding well for their chances of winning.

It should be fun to watch these two 29-year-olds team up and try to take down a golf legend and the No. 1 golfer in the world. If any pair could do that, it may be Thomas and Spieth.