PGA Tour and LPGA superstars will be featured in the ninth edition of The Match as Rory McIlroy and Max Homa tee it up alongside Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang in the mixed-skins format. The charity golf exhibition welcomes the four golfers to The Park Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday evening.
Unlike the first eight editions of The Match, this iteration will be the first to feature women and the first to be held at The Park Golf Course; the Wynn in Las Vegas was the unofficial home of exhibition golf. Thompson and Zhang hope to impress in front of McIlroy and Homa, both of whom have experience in these type of events.
McIlroy was featured in The Match 7 with teammate Tiger Wood, but the two ultimately fell to Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in December 2022. Homa experienced a similar fate when he played in the Netflix Cup this past fall with Formula One driver Alex Albon when Thomas once again came away victorious.
Unlike previous versions of The Match, this one will not feature teams. Instead, the four golfers will compete by themselves across 12 holes of skins hoping to collect the most money for charity along the way.
The Match 9
Viewing information
Date: Monday, Feb. 26 | Time 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: The Park Golf Course — West Palm Beach, Florida
Broadcast: TNT | Simulcast: TBS, truTV, HLN | Live stream: Bleacher Report app
Format
The Match will be contested under 12 holes of mixed skins format for the first time ever. Each hole will be worth a specified amount towards charity, with the golfer who raises the most amount by the end of the competition being declared the winner. Players will tee off from the same tee boxes on the four par 3s and use varying tee boxes for the men and women on the remaining holes.
Participants
Rory McIlroy: It has been a bit of an odd season so far for McIlroy, who claimed his fourth Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour in January. Since then, he has struggled with consistency on the PGA Tour, often flashing his brilliance but undoing his efforts with short stretches of poor play. If those types of runs materialize at The Match, they could hinder his chances of winning given the short 12-hole format.
Max Homa: Homa's season has been defined by some good golf but not enough great golf through two months. He has notched three top-20 finishes with his best effort coming in the form of a T13 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Failing to contend in any of the California events or his hometown event, the WM Phoenix Open, Homa heads to the Florida Swing without a ton of momentum. Perhaps this exhibition can get the gears turning as he often thrives in front of an audience.
Lexi Thompson: Thompson has been solid since the Solheim Cup and made her presence known on the PGA Tour at the Shriners Children's Open. Nearly making the cut at the men's event, the American finished her 2023 LPGA season with three straight top-10 finishes. She notched a T6 at the Grant Thornton Invitational alongside Rickie Fowler in December and finished T16 in her lone start of 2024 in large part due to a poor final round.
Rose Zhang: The youngin' of the bunch, Zhang's game and personality will have a chance to shine on the big stage. The 20-year-old teamed up with Sahith Theegala at the Grant Thornton Invitational en route to a T9 result to end a memorable 2023 that included her second straight NCAA championship individual crown, a win at the Augusta National Women's Amateur and a triumph in her first start as a professional on the LPGA.
Picks, odds
Odds via Sportsline consensus
- Rory McIlroy: +185
- Max Homa: +240
- Lexi Thompson: +370
- Rose Zhang: +380
Underdogs have been the way to go in these style of tournaments given the made-for-TV product, so let's rock with Thompson. The putter could pose a problem, but she has ample length off the tee and will be playing from shorter yardages on the par 4s and par 5s than McIlroy and Homa, which should give her a considerable edge.
