Before we look at the moments you might have missed, here is your headline takeaway: the PGA Tour pair of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy comfortably saw off LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the inaugural edition of The Crpyto.com Showdown at Shadow Creek Golf Club on Tuesday.
Scheffler and McIlroy were far too good for their "rivals", putting DeChambeau and Koepka to the sword straight away by winning three of the first four holes and never letting up.
It took until the 11th hole for the LIV duo to win a hole outright, and victories after that were few and far between until they were finally put out of their misery on the 16th.
While the event itself wasn't perfect, it still provided more than enough entertainment and showed that this kind of one-off competition might have legs moving forward.
But, away from scores and talk of when this merger will finally come to fruition, there were a number of interesting side-stories that you might not have seen. Here are five of the best.
GREG NORMAN IN ATTENDANCE
While neither the PGA Tour or LIV Golf League was directly involved with the made-for-TV match, LIV's current CEO - Greg Norman - was in attendance to check up on his boys.
Norman confirmed recently that he is being replaced at some point next year, but is expected to remain with the PIF-backed circuit in some capacity.
The Australian didn't prove to be a lucky charm for the LIV duo in Vegas, unfortunately, but he did make sure to catch up with both DeChambeau and Koepka pre-match.
Norman also made sure to wish at least one member of Team PGA Tour good luck before he began, with a picture of Norman and Scheffler shaking hands captured.
DECHAMBEAU'S TEE SHOT HITS SCHEFFLER'S DAD
Bryson just hit Scottie Scheffler’s dad with an errant tee shot on the second hole.You cannot make this stuff up 💀December 17, 2024
As previously mentioned, it was a rough start for the LIV pairing as they went 2-0 down in as many holes at Shadow Creek. To make matters worse, a potentially rusty DeChambeau fired a drive so far off target on the second hole that it went into the crowd.
And who should that ball collide with? Only Scottie Scheffler's dad, Scott who had a front-row seat for his son's exhibition. The incident was called by on-course reporter, Bubba Watson, who later clarified that Scheffler Sr was apparently unharmed.
All's well that ends well, at least for the Schefflers...
A SMALL DOSE OF MCILROY REVENGE
.@McIlroyRory from WAY downtown. 💥He plays the slope and judges the speed perfectly to make eagle and secure the four-ball match 3&2. #SpiderTourX pic.twitter.com/rdqexkeF2EDecember 18, 2024
At the US Open in June, McIlroy's putter went stone cold on him at the worst possible time and he let Bryson back in to snatch away the title late on Sunday.
While this TV exhibition was not even on the scale in terms of importance compared to the championship which took place at Pinehurst No.2, McIlroy did at least get to see his rival that day experience the pain of a missed short putt.
On the par-5 fourth hole at Shadow Creek, Koepka had found the water off the tee but DeChambeau bailed him out with a solid tee shot. His second was nothing short of sublime from 215 yards, coming to rest at maybe four feet for an eagle chance.
In the meantime, Scheffler and McIlroy had navigated the hole in tidy fashion but had long-range eagle putts to tie the hole. To everyone's amazement, McIlroy drained his effort from way downtown and DeChambeau missed from near-kick-in range, dragging his putt left in eerily similar fashion to McIlroy's push at the US Open. With that, the PGA Tour duo had won the fourballs segment 3&2, and the LIV golfers were left in shock.
THE COAT
Admittedly, if you paid any attention to The Showdown or surfed social media while it was on, there's almost no way you didn't see this as it appeared to be all anyone was talking about at times.
Having recently signed a long-term deal with Reebok, DeChambeau kept himself warm in a fresh coat from the brand as the December air in Nevada turned more than a little chilly.
The contest began at 4pm local time and was played predominantly after the sun had set in the desert. Once the contest had reached the latter half, the feels-like temperature hovered around just 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10C). Towards the end, it had dropped into the mid-40s (7C).
DeChambeau wasn't the only one with extra layers, though, as Scheffler donned a hooded jacket while all players made use of the heaters in their carts throughout.
MCILROY'S HIT-IT-FURTHER JUICE
“It’s my ‘Hit it further juice’”- Rory McIlroy explaining to Scottie Scheffler why he takes 20g of creatine per day.Full clip below pic.twitter.com/4xB9F6o9PVDecember 18, 2024
Rory McIlroy doesn't appear to need much help in cranking drives well past the 300-yard marker - a feat many of us can only dream of doing consistently (and accurately) - as his average driving distance on the PGA Tour in 2024 was 320.2 yards.
But in a chat between McIlroy and Scheffler on Tuesday night, the Northern Irishman shared that he consumes 20g of creatine - a naturally-occurring substance found in your muscles and brain which helps to produce energy - every day in order to help him work harder in the gym and reap the benefits from a strength and conditioning point of view.
McIlroy jokingly called it his "hit-it-further juice" on camera and Scheffler said that he was going to try a bit later on. Evidently, it helped the four-time Major winner against his LIV opponents, with a comfortable victory secured in the end.
