PGA Tour Pair Clear Favorites As Early Odds Released For 'The Showdown'

Early betting odds have been released ahead of The Showdown exhibition match in Las Vegas later this year - a clash which is set to pit the PGA Tour's Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler against the LIV Golf League's Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

The four world-class players will head to Shadow Creek Golf Club on Tuesday, December 17 for an 18-hole contest on prime-time TV in the US - broadcast on TNT.

The format is yet to be locked down, but - per Golfweek's Eamon Lynch - it is expected to be a mixture of best-ball and alternate-shot formats. No prize money will be on offer in Vegas but each player will have equity in The Showdown instead.

And in terms of the betting, UK-based bookmaker William Hill has installed Scheffler and McIlroy - the World No.1 and 3, respectively - as the early favorites at (-188) but insist Koepka and DeChambeau cannot be ignored at (+138).

Lee Phelps, a William Hill spokesperson, said: “We make Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler 8/15 favourites to get the better of LIV partnership Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

"The match will be a fascinating spectacle, with four major winners taking each other on over one round of 18 holes, and despite slightly favouring McIlroy and Scheffler we can't rule out the LIV boys at 11/8."

Neither the PGA Tour or LIV Golf League are affiliated with the event - which is being put together by Hollywood producer and creator of The Match, Bryan Zuriff - however, the organization of the contest does appear to prove tensions between the two rival circuits are continuing to ease as the future of men's pro golf is thrashed out.

Talks between the key stakeholders have been slowly progressing in recent months and, at the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan played alongside each other at Carnoustie as 14 LIV golfers also teed it up on the DP World Tour.

However, given the seemingly glacial pace of the conversations regarding how men's pro golf moves forward, it was suggested to McIlroy before his appearance at the Irish Open last month that The Showdown was arranged to send a message to those involved in the discussions.

The Northern Irishman insisted that was not the case and the players - plus the event organizers - simply wanted to offer a glimpse into what the sport may look like in the future.

He said: “I wouldn't say it's meant to send a message. It's more we wanted to do something that, I guess, all golf fans could get excited about.

“It's a way to show golf fans in the world that this is what could happen or these are the possibilities going forward.

"I've been saying this for a long time. I think golf and golf fans get to see us together more than four times a year. I think that's what we've tried to do.”

Per Front Office Sports, there is a six-year deal in place for The Showdown with Las Vegas hosting all matches in the United States in alternate years. After that, the 2025 version is likely to happen in the Middle East before possibly moving over to somewhere in Europe in 2027 or 2029.