Capital One's 'The Match 7': Funniest Takes from Woods, McIlroy vs. Thomas, Spieth
Dec 11, 2022
BELLEAIR, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 10: (L-R) Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Tiger Woods of the United States pose with Jordan Spieth of the United States and Justin Thomas of the United States after Spieth and Thomas defeated McIlroy and Woods during The Match 7 at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club on December 10, 2022 in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for The Match)
Professional golf played at night?
Yes, there was indeed high-profile golf played under the lights instead of daylight.
And that's just one of the unique but entertaining twists featured at the seventh edition of Capital One's The Match, which saw Rory McIlroy team up with Tiger Woods to go head-to-head with the pairing of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
The 12-hole competition was played in the evening at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, to settle a few scores between four of golf's biggest stars and support Florida in its effort to bounce back from the statewide devastation in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
By the end of the night, it was Spieth and Thomas prevailing 3 and 2 after taking the lead early and never looking back after the latter went for a long birdie to win the second hole and hit the Michael Jordan shrug.
Ever the showman, Woods started things off with a birdie on the opening hole that was "smooth as a Tootsie Roll," but that would be the lone highlight for him on the night.
From there, Spieth and Thomas went on to combine for a few pars and two more birdies to finish off their opponents on the 10th hole.
There were some beautiful shots and competitive flourishes from the superstar quartet to the delight of fans, including JT's use of a 5-wood to make par on a 455-yard hole.
But as much as there was great action and gamesmanship on the links, it was the trash talk and other hilarious moments along the way that made this event must-see TV.
All four athletes traded barbs leading up to Saturday night, but the trolling really got underway during and after The Match.
"Hey Tiger and Rory...what happened?!?!" Spieth and Thomas joked on Twitter afterward.
Probably the biggest burn was directed at Charles Barkley, the announcer for the night.
Barbs directed at Sir Charles is par for the course, considering everyone took a swipe before the match. That included Woods, who, when prompted with the question of "are you going to listen to Charles throughout the day or are you pretty much going to mute him?" responded with "if we had an option, we'd never listen to him."
Thomas has history with the Round Mound of Rebound, especially with Barkley, an Auburn alum, goading him about having attended "Alabama University," so it's no surprise the line of the night came from him.
"Chuck's looking at that moon like it's an Oreo," he said.
Laughter aside, it was all for a great cause, adding more much-needed funds to the Hurricane Ian relief efforts in Florida.
After a night like that, fans likely can't wait for the next one.
Thomas, Spieth Win Capital One's 'The Match 7' vs. Woods, McIlroy
Dec 11, 2022
BELLEAIR, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 10: (L-R) Jordan Spieth of the United States, Justin Thomas of the United States, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Tiger Woods of the United States pose for a photo prior to The Match 7 at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club on December 10, 2022 in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for The Match)
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth won the seventh edition of Capital One's The Match Saturday with a 3-and-2 victory over Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
The superstar quartet enjoyed some evening golf during the 12-hole competition.
Spieth drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the next one to put his team two holes up.
The 455-yard par-four fourth hole featured the one-club challenge. Thomas took centerstage again by making par on a 455-yard hole using nothing but a 5-wood:
Neither team won the fifth or sixth holes, but Woods and McIlroy got one back on the par-five seventh after the latter golfer knocked home a 20-foot birdie.
However, Thomas put Woods and McIlroy on the ropes by nailing a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-three eighth for the 3-up lead.
The ninth hole was a heartbreaker for Woods and McIlroy, who each had birdie chances from under 20 feet to win the hole. Neither shot dropped, though, and that duo found itself needing to win the final three holes just to tie.
McIlroy put his team in position to do just that with a birdie, but Spieth matched him to halve the hole and win the match.
Thomas, Spieth and McIlroy made their Match debuts. Woods had played twice, losing to Phil Mickelson in the inaugural competition before teaming with Peyton Manning to defeat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.
This year's matchup served to benefit Hurricane Ian relief efforts. The first six editions of The Match have combined to raise almost $33 million for a variety of charitable organizations. In addition, more than 27 million meals have been donated through Feeding America.
Woods, McIlroy vs. Thomas, Spieth Prize Money and Distribution For Charity Match
Dec 10, 2022
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
Capital One's The Match returns Saturday night for its seventh iteration. The Match VII doesn't feature non-golf athletes as past events have, but it should be wildly entertaining nonetheless.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will team up to battle Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in a 12-hole, best-ball contest. Bragging rights will be on the line, as well as a chance to earn a lot of charity donations.
As with past editions of The Match, this one is designed to benefit a good cause. The Match VII will serve as a platform for Hurricane Ian relief efforts.
"WBD Sports has televised six editions of Capital One’s The Match,
raising nearly $33 million for various charitable organizations and has
donated more than 27 million meals through Feeding America. The upcoming installment of the event will serve as a platform to benefit Hurricane Ian relief efforts after the devastating effects of the storm on the Gulf Coast and its surrounding communities."
While there is no prize purse for winning the event, teams can earn charity donations through a series of challenges that will take place throughout the round. Below, you'll find a look at those challenges and the money payouts, along with all of the information you need to catch The Match VII.
Capital One's The Match VII
Who: Woods/McIlroy vs. Spieth/Thomas
Where: Pelican Golf Course in Belleair, Florida
When: Saturday, 10 December
TV: TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN
Time: Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET, with the Hot Seat Press Conference Presented by Capital One airing at 5:30 p.m. ET on the B/R App.
Challenges and Charity Distribution
Woods and McIlroy will be competing to best Thomas and Spieth, and vice versa. However, both teams will be playing to earn charity dollars via the following challenges.
Hole 3 will feature the DraftKings Sportsbook Closest to the Hole challenge, with a payout of up to $1.1 million.
Hole 9 will feature the UnitedHealthcare Closest to the Hole Challenge. On the closest-to-the-hole challenges, $1 million will be donated on that team's behalf for a hole-in-one. $500,000 will be donated if a shot is placed within five feet of the hole. If no shot comes within five feet, $250,000 will be donated on behalf of the player who is closest to the hole.
An additional $100,000 will be donated if all four golfers make it onto the green on their opening shot.
Hole 4 will feature the Capital One Club Challenge. For this challenge, a $500,000 donation will be made for the team that wins the hole. An additional $250,000 will be donated for each team that scores a birdie.
Hole 5 will feature the USAA Hole in One Challenge, with a potential payout of $2.5 million.
Hole 8 will feature the Tito's Handmade Vodka Hole in One Challenge. $2.5 million will be donated on behalf of a team if it makes a hole-in-one. If no hole-in-one is made, $250,000 will still be donated on behalf of the winning team.
Plenty of money will be donated over the course of Saturday's event, and while holes-in-one are extremely rare, it will be something for fans to root for. They'll also get to cheer on four of the world's best golfers in what should be a very even match.
Thomas and Spieth are slight favorites for the event, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Their team carries -125 odds, meaning a bet of $125 will earn a $100 payout. Woods and McIlroy are ever-so-slight underdogs at +105 (bet $100 to win $105), but things should be relatively even.
Yes, Woods is 46, is dealing with a foot injury and hasn't played in a high-level tournament since missing the cut at the Open Championship in July. However, he's still a spirited competitor and has the world's top-ranked golfer in his corner.
"I've got the No. 1 player in the world on my team so I'm good," Woods said in a press conference.
Expect The Match VII to feature a tight race, a lot of quality golf, a little bit of trash talk and potentially millions going to a good cause. Most importantly, expect it to be a heck of a lot of fun.
Capital One's 'The Match 7': Does Woods, McIlroy or Thomas, Spieth Have Edge?
Dec 10, 2022
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
The latest edition of Capital One's The Match is slated to take place on Saturday evening under the lights at Pelican Golf Course.
Like other iterations of The Match, this event will be for charity, serving as a platform for Hurricane Ian relief efforts. Unlike recent entries in the series, it won't feature celebrity athletes from other sports.
The Match VII is strictly a golfer showcase, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy facing off against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
Thomas and Spieth are the favorites, which isn't a major surprise. While Woods is a PGA legend, he hasn't competed in a high-level tournament since missing the cut at the Open Championship, and he's not at 100 percent. But do Thomas and Spieth actually have the edge in this best-ball competition?
At first blush, Thomas and Spieth do appear to be the better team. The two longtime friends know one another's game well, and both have been competing at extremely high levels.
According to the PGA world rankings, Spieth is the 14th-best golfer in the world right now, while Thomas is ranked eighth. Fans can expect this team to attack the open Pelican course with power and long-ball accuracy.
The other factor to consider is Woods' health. The 46-year-old is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, an issue that recently caused him to withdraw from the Hero World Challenge.
However, Woods has insisted that the injury won't inhibit his ability to play golf.
"I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want, I just cant walk ... Only time can heal this one." pic.twitter.com/WeKqThcSnU
Since The Match is a cart-assisted event, difficulty walking won't be an issue for Woods.
Woods will also be experimenting with a new ball at The Match, which could help him hang with Thomas and Spieth in the power department. He'll be changing his ball from the Bridgestone Tour B XS to a Tour B X.
"I'm experimenting with the Tour B X to get a little more pop," Woods said through Bridgestone (h/t Max Schreiber of Golf Channel). "Based on the situation, I have different preferences, and it’s great that Bridgestone has multiple balls right off the shelf that I can play."
If the ball change allows Woods to even the odds a bit off the tee, his prowess in the short game and on the green will be a significant factor for his team.
Oh, and Woods will be playing with the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, McIlroy. This is big because of the best-ball format. Only the lowest score for each team will be counted on each hole.
Hypothetically, Woods could play a terrible round and still win as long as McIlroy outdoes Thomas and Spieth more often than he doesn't.
The Match is only a 12-hole event, so a couple of hole wins and several ties may be enough to decide the outcome.
While Thomas and Spieth are the more well-rounded team, Mcilroy is the best all-around golfer in this competition. The format actually gives him and Woods a slight edge, even if the oddsmakers are discounting Woods coming in.
The prediction here is that Mcilroy wins just enough holes to deliver a victory, though it won't be a shock to see Woods steal one or two on the green. Expect it to be a tight race, however, that lasts the full 12 holes.
There isn't a true underdog here, and the play should be close enough that the result isn't in the books early.
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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...
Capital One's 'The Match 7': Explaining Rules for Woods, McIlroy vs. Thomas, Spieth
Dec 8, 2022
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
Capital One's The Match is back for its seventh iteration. While casual fans may not be as excited about this edition as past ones—it doesn't feature non-PGA athletes like Peyton Manning or Stephen Curry—golf purists should be thrilled.
PGA legend Tiger Woods is back for his third appearance in The Match, and he'll be paired with
the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, Rory McIlroy. They'll face off against the team of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
While The Match VII doesn't carry the novelty of an NFL quarterback duel—the last edition pitted Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers against Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen—it should still be a ton of fun.
Woods is notorious for being one of the top competitors in the sport, and he's very familiar with McIlroy. The two co-founded TMRW Sports. Thomas and Spieth, meanwhile, are longtime friends.
All four participants have faced off on the PGA tour.
Fans can expect a lot of quality golf, some tight competition and, likely, a fair bit of trash talk. Here's what you need to know.
One interesting aspect of The Match VII is that it will be played at night. Pelican Golf Course features an open environment, which is perfect for temporary lighting and a prime-time event.
"The way the golf course is laid out, I would call it a parkland,
especially the back nine,” said Justin Sheehan, Pelican's director of golf, per Jeff Eisenband of PGATour.com. “It's pretty open. We have
minimal rough, so it's got a really nice big open feel, which is why
it's so good for a tournament. It's easier than most golf courses would
be to put light trucks in place. We're not going through woods and
marshes and tons of water.”
The Match will also feature custom golf carts, which should help Woods, who withdrew from last month's Hero World Challenge with plantar fasciitis.
As for, you know, the match itself, it will be a 12-hole competition of match play. Each team will receive a point when it wins a hole, with the most points after 12 deciding the winner.
Theoretically, though, the event could end well before all 12 holes are played.
If, for example, one team has a 4-1 lead and five holes have been tied, the other team cannot draw even over the final two holes.
The Match will also feature a best-ball format, which means that only the lowest score from each team will count on a given hole. This means that, hypothetically, Wood could triple-bogey a hole and still win if McIlroy's score beats those of Thomas and Spieth.
This is perhaps one reason why the odds are fairly close to even. Spieth and Thomas may be the more complete team—Woods is banged up and no longer in his prime—but one of them still has to outplay McIlroy.
And as with all iterations of The Match, this is first and foremost a charity event. The Match VII will serve as a platform to benefit Hurricane Ian relief efforts.
It's going to be an entertaining experience and for a good cause, so fans should be sure to tune in this Saturday.
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Tiger Woods Talks Foot Injury, Capital One's 'The Match 7' with Rory, Spieth, Thomas
Dec 7, 2022
Tiger Woods of the United States, center, shakes hands with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, left, as Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, right, stands during the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Tiger Woods is ready for his return to golf Saturday in Capital One’s The Match as he and Rory McIlroy take on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
Woods hasn't played competitively since the Open Championship in July, withdrawing from the Hero World Challenge after dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, but using the cart in this event will allow him to compete.
"I can hit golf balls, it's just getting from point A to point B," Woods said in Wednesday's press conference.
The 46-year-old has practiced regularly in recent months, although the foot injury has prevented him from entering an official tournament.
"The walking part was the challenge," Woods added.
The 12-hole exhibition at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida gives the superstar a chance to play competitively once again, though he might lean on McIlroy in the best ball format.
"I've got the No. 1 player in the world on my team so I'm good," Woods said of McIlroy, joking that he could end up being a "cheerleader" for the event.
Rory returned the compliment, saying Woods is "probably the best golfer that ever lived."
Spieth and Thomas represent a formidable challenge, especially considering their experience playing together. The duo went 4-0 as a team to lead the United States to a win at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
It still might be difficult to trash talk their more accomplished opponents.
"Ok, you have more majors than us," Thomas said of Woods and McIlroy. "You both have an airplane and we don't."
Fans could get a new perspective on the four players with each having an open mic during the competition. Spieth planned to provide some insight into his decision-making before shots while chatting with his teammate.
Woods, on the other hand, said the banter will be different than usual because he "can't use certain words."
This is the seventh iteration of The Match, with Woods the only one of the four with experience in the event. He faced Phil Mickelson in the 2018 debut and teamed with Peyton Manning against Mickelson and Tom Brady in 2020.
McIlroy showed his excitement to finally take part in the unique exhibition.
"I think it just brings a different audience to the game of golf, which I think is important," he said. "Golf can be perceived as just stuck in its ways. This appeals to a different audience."
Saturday's competition will benefit those affected by Hurricane Ian, with the previous six versions raising nearly $33 million in charitable efforts.
Rory McIlroy Explains Beef with LIV's Greg Norman After 'Brainwash' Accusation
Dec 4, 2022
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses with the DP World Tour Championship trophy during final round of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai on November 20,2022. (Photo by Ryan LIM / AFP) (Photo by RYAN LIM/AFP via Getty Images)
There has been no shortage of back-and-forth quips between PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy and LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman, and the former provided some insight into when the rift started.
During an interview with Paul Kimmage of the Independent (h/t Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press), McIlroy said Norman's previous comments suggested he was "brainwashed by the PGA Tour" is when the beef began.
That it came after Norman sent him an encouraging message after he lost a four-shot lead during the final round of the 2011 Masters made it that much worse in his eyes.
"We've had this really nice back-and-forth, and he says that about me," McIlroy said.
Ferguson noted that McIlroy and Tiger Woods have both said the only way for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to reach an agreement and perhaps come together is if Norman is no longer in his position.
"I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left," McIlroy said while also adding there needs to be "an adult in the room."
Rory McIlroy Says He Believes He Gave Tiger Woods COVID-19 Ahead of 2022 British Open
Nov 28, 2022
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - JULY 11: Tiger Woods of The United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland interact on the 17th during the Celebration of Champions Challenge during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 11, 2022 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy said he gave Tiger Woods COVID-19 ahead of The Open at St. Andrews this past season.
McIlroy and Woods played together at the JP McManus Pro-Am in Ireland over a week before the British major in July. McIlroy first felt some symptoms during the round, but he said things got much worse two days later, as he explained to Paul Kimmage of the Independent (h/t ESPN):
I slept for maybe two hours and the sweat was just pouring off me, then [his wife] Erica took my temperature and it was sky high. I rang Tiger: 'I'm not feeling so good here.' And he goes, 'Oh, I feel OK.' But he texted me at 10 o'clock that night, chills, fever, and I'm like, 'F---ing hell, I've just given Tiger COVID! This is horrendous!' So we both had COVID going into The Open.
McIlroy said he never actually tested positive for COVID-19 before The Open, although he said he lost the sense of taste during the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night ahead of the tournament.
"The whole week of The Open I didn't have any taste, and everything smelled like vinegar to me," McIlroy said. "Everything. It was really strange."
The 33-year-old still played in the tournament and fared well, finishing in third place at 18 strokes under par. McIlroy led the field going into the final round before getting passed by Cameron Smith on the back nine.
It was still his first top-10 finish at The Open since winning it in 2014.
Woods didn't have as good of a performance in his final turn at the historic St. Andrews golf course. The 46-year-old was recovering from a leg injury suffered in a 2021 car crash, and he struggled to a plus-nine finish while missing the cut.
It's unknown whether the illness passed from McIlroy had any effect on the round, although it likely didn't help.
