Saturday’s seventh version of The Match — this one that includes Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas — ought to be as entertaining as golf will get presently of the yr. That quartet hasn’t been taking part in a ton, however these exhibition occasions are extra concerning the interplay than the golf anyway, and the interplay ought to be phenomenal.
Woods and McIlroy will tackle Spieth and Thomas at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday at Pelican Golf Club (extra particulars right here). The latter pair is favored, which led Thomas to joke Wednesday in a convention name that the sharps completely know what they’re doing when it comes to setting the traces.
There is loads to be enthusiastic about when it comes to this explicit occasion — maybe Woods’ return to golf for the primary time since July’s Open Championship most of all — and although this best-ball match will solely final 12 holes, it ought to be terrifically entertaining. Here are 4 issues I’ll be searching for when the festivities get underway on Saturday.
1. Tiger’s well being: There are quite a lot of very not critical objects to tick off on Saturday evening at Pelican, however Tiger’s well being isn’t one in all them. He withdrew from final week’s Hero World Challenge with plantar fasciitis and casually talked about that he’d had different procedures earlier this yr. He has insisted that he’ll be tremendous so long as he has a golf cart (he’ll Saturday), however I’m mildly doubtful about his general mobility.
There shouldn’t be (though there undoubtedly will be) any extrapolations made about subsequent yr’s main championships primarily based on the 50 or so pictures Woods hits at this occasion, however it’s been 5 months since we have seen him swing a golf membership competitively. That’s not nothing, and one of the best swing of all time — whether or not it’s affected by the myriad illnesses Tiger feels in the remainder of his physique — will be beneath a microscope over the following 10 days (right here and on the PNC Championship the place he’ll tee it up with his son, Charlie).
2. Who is one of the best trash talker? Back to the extra insouciant matters. There was debate on Wednesday about this. Tiger stated he was restricted by way of the vocabulary he may use. Rory stated he is aware of J.T. thinks he is one of the best talker. J.T. and Spieth stated they had been so outclassed when it comes to wins and majors that they could have to take the great man route as a substitute of going proper at two guys with a mixed 19 main championships. (Spieth and J.T. have 5.) Banter at occasions like these is generally neutered, however hopefully the fellas get slightly free, and we get some top-notch one-liners.
3. Night golf: Spieth spoke about how he is by no means performed evening golf earlier than and the way a lot he was wanting ahead to doing so. I’m equally enthusiastic about some primetime East Coast golf within the winter. Normally, when golf is televised at these instances, it is on the West Coast, however this occasion ought to really feel slightly larger than regular as a result of it is beneath the lights. I do not know that this can have an effect on the result (until the lights on the carts malfunction for some motive), however it does add to the festivities a bit.
4. Best match ever: Up to this level, essentially the most collective majors at a match like this one was 21 (Tiger and Phil Mickelson, a number of instances). This group has 24 mixed, and it represents essentially the most collective expertise at any of the seven official matches to date. Granted, 15 of these got here from the man who hasn’t performed in 5 months, however three of the opposite gamers are among the many 15 finest on this planet proper now. If this factor is shut late — and it doubtless will be — the battle for a meaningless victory actually will not really feel like simply one other exhibition.