Take a bow, Rory McIlroy. The No. 1 golfer in the world wins the ninth edition of The Match with a closest-to-the-pin tiebreaker. He beat fellow PGA competitor Max Homa and LPGA stars Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang.
In a first for The Match, it was a skins format, meaning it wasn’t won by a team but rather a single golfer. Rather than winning the course by shooting the lowest score, McIlroy won by racking up the most money with a win on three holes and the tiebreaker. He won holes four, six, and eight. Thompson was the only other golfer to win a skin at hole two.
Homa and Zhang each had the chance to win a skin, but their putts missed by inches, resulting in ties. At hole eight, all of McIlroy’s competitors had the chance to tie it up, but each missed par shots, and McIlroy won the skin with a par. At the end of the event, he won $1.1 million for charity.
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While The Match is known for humorous celebrity matchups, the 2024 event was the first time women competed. They put up a run for the money, but in the end, McIlroy had a cleaner night in West Palm Beach.
The Sporting News tracked live updates and highlights from the 2024 edition of The Match. Scroll below for key moments.
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The Match score
Hole Winner (overall score) 1 Tied 2 Thompson (eagle) 3 Tied 4 McIlroy (par) 5 Tied 6 McIlroy (birdie) 7 Tied 8 McIlroy (par) 9 Tied 10 Tied 11 Tied 12 Tied Closest to the pin McIlroy
The Match live results, highlights from 2024 golf contest
(All times Eastern.)
10:35 p.m. – He does it! McIlroy wins the ninth edition of The Match with a remarkable shot on the closest to the pin tiebreaker.
10:33 p.m. – That’s going to be tough to beat. McIlroy starts it off with a shot that’s four feet and two-and-a-half inches away from the hole.
THIS RORY SHOT WAS UNBELIEVABLE 🤯#CapitalOnesTheMatch pic.twitter.com/I0Sk23uInC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2024
10:27 p.m. – Homa sinks it, but Zhang follows it up with a putt for “funsies.” To determine the final winner, the golfers head to the fairway for a competition of closest to the pin from 100 yards out.
10:15 p.m. – According to McIlroy, an anonymous donor gave $500,000 extra for the final hole, bringing it up to $1.6 million. Any guesses who?
10:06 p.m. – No one claims the 11th hole. We head to the final tee with the $1.6 million up for grabs.
9:53 p.m. – And it’s up to $600,000 on hole 11 after no golfer wins the skin. It’s still anybody’s game.
9:36 p.m. – No one wins hole nine, meaning the next skin is doubled to $400,000 for the winner.
9:19 p.m. – McIlroy takes home his third skin of the night with hole eight! He’s up to $800,000.
9:17 p.m. – Still enrolled at Stanford, Zhang heads back to California immediately after The Match.
Rose Zhang has a LONG day ahead of her tomorrow 😳#CapitalOnesTheMatch pic.twitter.com/dW8M731Ne4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2024
9:01 p.m. – Zhang sinks it on the birdie, but McIlroy ties it up on the next shot. Another skin doubled for hole eight.
8:41 p.m. – Another skin for Rory! He gets the birdie for his second win of the night. He’s up to $500,000 on the night.
8:25 p.m. – You know the drill… No one takes the skin on hole 5, making hole six worth $300,000.
8:09 p.m. – The par is good enough for McIlroy. He takes the skin on hole 4.
7:48 p.m. – It’s birdies for Homa and McIlroy, and the skin once again carries over. The PGA team
7:34 p.m. – Thompson picks up hole two with an eagle! She gets the first skin, and that’s $200,000 towards her charity.
Lexi Thompson sunk this eagle for $200K 🔥💰#CapitalOnesTheMatch pic.twitter.com/jCS6HyLGVx
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2024
7:26 p.m. – Zhang and Homa both birdie the first hole, so the $100,000 skin is carried over to hole two.
6:35 p.m. – For the first time, The Match will use a skins format. That means that rather than shooting the lowest total, the overall winner is determined by who wins the most holes. The best score on each hole wins “the skin.”
6:10 p.m. – Tiger may be one of the best to ever do it, but the young star has him beat when it comes to their collegiate careers at Stanford. No big deal for Rose.
Rose Zhang has more Stanford golf records than Tiger 🤯#capitalonesthematch pic.twitter.com/vfc4wPRZAa
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 26, 2024
6:00 p.m. – A new format for The Match maybe?
Max Homa and Lexi Thompson hit the golf ball with anything but a club 😂#CapitalOnesTheMatch TONIGHT at 6:30 ET on TNT and @SportsonMax 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jtJLpfUGBT
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 26, 2024
5:40 p.m. – Seems like Charles Barkley’s been having the best day of his life out on the course.
Chuck roasting DJ Khaled’s swing at the course 🤣 #CapitalOnesTheMatch pic.twitter.com/opxoN7scGY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 26, 2024
What time is The Match golf contest today?
Date: Monday, Feb. 26Time: 6:30 p.m. ET | 3:30 p.m. PT
The Match tees off at 6:30 p.m. ET from the Park City Municipal Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
MORE: Everything to know about The Match in 2024
What channel is The Match on today?
TV channel: TNT, trueTV, HLNLive stream: Max, Sling
The Match will hold to its usual tradition of broadcasting on TNT as well as associated networks truTV and HLN.
Viewers can stream The Match on the Max app or Sling.
Ernie Johnson will host the event alongside analysts Trevor Immelman, Charles Barkley and Christina Kim. Kathryn Tappen will report live from the course while musical artist DJ Khaled and NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette will provide additional commentary.
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