How much did Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler win at The Showdown? Prize money explored
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy took on Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in Tuesday’s made-for-TV golf match, The Showdown. The PGA Tour pros came out on top, beating their LIV Golf counterparts in only 14 holes at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. The duo won a whopping $10,000,000 in cryptocurrencies.
For the unversed, The Showdown had a unique format offering a point for six-hole fourballs match, a point for a six-hole foursomes match and a point each for singles over the last six holes. The teams needed 2 1/2 points to win the contest where four total points were available. Notably, the final McIlroy/DeChambeau match was not played to completion as the PGA stars clinched a dominating win mid-round.
Much like its format, the TV event also had a unique prize purse. Each golfer from the winning duo bagged $5,000,000 in cryptocurrencies. The prize was dished out in the event sponsor, crypto.com ’s crypto-based coin 'CRO.' Both Scheffler and McIlroy received the equivalent of the sum in crypto coins.
One CRO coin was worth $0.1851 USD at the time of the event’s conclusion. Now, the golfers can choose to keep the coins or cashout.
It is pertinent to note that this is the first time an event featuring PGA Tour and LIV Golf stars have paid out the prize money in cryptocurrency. As per speculations, all participants, inluding Scheffler and McIlroy, were paid millions in advance to partake in the competition. Meanwhile, reports also claimed that a sum of the amount raised from the event will be handed out for charity.
Scottie Scheffler jokes about winning $5,000,000 in crypto
The Showdown paid out Scottie Scheffler and his partner Rory McIlroy in cryptocurrency. The golfers bagged ‘CRO’ coins worth $5,000,000 each. While the Irishman seemed okay with the prize, Scheffler came out to state that he wasn’t too keen with the prize. The World No. 1 golfer made his feelings clear by saying he doesn’t ‘know a whole lot about Crypto.’
The reigning Masters champion said he’ll be calling crypto.com CMO Steven Kalifowitz, who awarded him the prize, to ‘figure it out.’
Replying to a query on what he’ll do with the crypto prize, Scottie Scheffler said:
“I don't know a while lot about crypto but this is good motivation to do some research.”
The reigning FedExCup champion’s response was met with Rory McIlroy cracking up. It is pertinent to note that Scottie Scheffler’s win from the exhibition event takes his yearly earning to a whopping $67 million.
For the unversed, the 28-year-old won his second Masters, a gold medal at the Summer Olympics and the hefty $25 million bonus at the Tour Championship, amassing his earning to $62 million on the course in 2024.