Nick Wass/Associated Press
The fifth edition of Capital One’s The Match could reasonably be called The Grudge Match. When Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka face off Friday, it will mark the most intimate chapter of one of golf’s most heated rivalries.
The back-and-forth between these two has gone on since 2019, and while DeChambeau and Koepka engaged in a post-match hug following Team USA’s win at the Ryder Cup, their feud is very much alive and well.
“There wasn’t an apology or anything like that,” DeChambeau said, per Christopher Powers of Golf Digest. “Until I get an apology for what he’s said and what not, nothing will change. This is all real on my end.”
According to DeChambeau, The Match will provide the perfect venue to settle things—if perhaps not for once and for all.
“With all that’s gone on the last two years, eventually it was going to come to this,” Koepka said, per Powers. “That way, somebody will have the bragging rights at the end of this, and somebody won’t. … Now it just comes down to playing golf, because obviously no one will [pair] us together. So we’ve got to do it on our own.”
Fans will get to watch these two go head-to-head in a fun-filled and likely tense charity game Friday. The Match 5 will be televised on TNT, TBS, TruTV and HLN, with live-streaming available on TNTDrama.com and the Bleacher Report app.
The Match 5
Who: Bryson DeChambeau vs. Brooks Koepka
Where: Wynn Golf Club, Las Vegas
When: Friday, November 26 at 4 p.m. ET
TV and Live Stream: TNT, TBS, TruTV, HLN, B/R app and TNTDrama.com
Rules Information and Preview
Fans familiar with previous iterations of The Match should have a good idea of how things will work. While other editions have featured doubles play, the original battle between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson was one-on-one.
It will be the same Friday, when Koepka and DeChambeau will compete to shoot the lowest score on each hole. The winner of each hole will receive a point, and the two will split the point in the event of a tie. Whoever has the most points after 12 holes will be declared the winner.
Why 12 holes instead of 18? According to Kevin Cunningham of Golf.com, Koepka is rumored to have requested the abridged format. Whether or not that’s accurate, he seems happy about the shorter competition.
“Playing 12 holes is nice. I mean it’s better than playing 18 holes with Bryson,” Koepka recently said in an interview with Mickelson. “Anything to spend less time with him I’m happy to do.”
There is no cash prize on the line for the two rivals as there was when Mickelson took on Woods. Instead, the even will be used to raise money for charity, as a Warner Media press release detailed:
“Donations made as part of the Nov. 26 event will benefit APGA Tour (Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour) and Feeding America ®, in addition to DeChambeau contributing to Shriner’s Hospital and Koepka donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. WarnerMedia and the golfers will tee things off with a charitable donation of 3.75 million meals to Feeding America.“
DeChambeau and Koepka will have the opportunity to further aid their charities of choice via individual-hole challenges that will be featured on Holes 3, 6, 7, 9 and 11. There are also $2 million donations in play for hole-in-one shots on Holes 3, 9 and 11. A full list of hole challenges can be found here.
While this is first and foremost a charity event, don’t expect the pair to shy away from the trash talk. Both will be mic’d up during the event, giving fans an inside look at their rivalry.
There should be some quality golf too, as DeChambeau and Koepka are two of the best in the business. Both men are ranked inside the top 16 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and they have a combined five majors on their collective resume.
There should be a little something for every fan during the broadcast, which will feature Mickelson and The Match 3 competitor Charles Barkley. Play-by-play will be provided by Brian Anderson, while Amanda Balionis will serve as the on-course reporter.
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