Scottie Scheffler shares what was ‘really challenging’ about playing in The Showdown after his win alongside Rory McIlroy

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If you include team competitions, Scottie Scheffler is now up to 11 victories for the year after the world number one and Rory McIlroy secured a comfortable win in The Showdown on Tuesday.

Ultimately, it was the PGA Tour pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy who took the spoils in The Showdown, with Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka comfortably beaten at Shadow Creek. The LIV Golf duo failed to win a single session in the match which was separated into three sections.

Scheffler and McIlroy got off to a strong start, with the Northern Irishman making an eagle on the fourth hole to secure the first point of the day. That win put Team PGA Tour three up and meant that the fifth and sixth holes were not even played.

They would also win in the second session meaning that LIV needed to win both of the singles to extend the match into a play-off. However, Scheffler and McIlroy did what they needed to to get across the line.

Scottie Scheffler shares what he found really challenging during The Showdown

It was not vintage Scheffler by any means – particularly when you consider that he finished 25 under par at the Hero World Challenge earlier this month – and speaking after the event, the 28-year-old explained what he found tough as the light faded and the temperatures dropped.

“Under the lights was fun. Like you said, it’s really challenging. The distances that we were hitting our shots changed significantly from the beginning of the match,” he said.

“But Rory got off to a great start in the best ball, and then we were able to sneak it in alternate shot, and we both played pretty good in singles as well. But I think Rory getting off to the great start today was pretty big for our team and made a statement out of the gate, so we kept the momentum from there.”

Why the PGA Tour will be extremely relieved

Of course, it felt like the kind of event which was about a lot more than the result or how any particular individual played. Anyone who has watched The Match over the years will be aware that they rarely deliver scintillating golf performances from the world’s best.

But there was always the potential for Scheffler to be something of a surprise package in this kind of event. While everyone knows how good he is on the course, his humour is arguably underrated, particularly up against players like McIlroy and DeChambeau who seem much more comfortable in the spotlight.

The PGA Tour will be pleased, and probably relieved, that two of their best players got the job done in such emphatic circumstances – even if there were challenges which prevented the quartet from producing an all-time classic.