Who won a closest to the pin contest between Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus

Add as preferred source on Google

At Tiger Woods’ Payne’s Valley Golf Course in 2020, a legendary competition took place on the “19th hole”. 

It was the conclusion of the 2020 Payne’s Valley Cup, which featured an exhibition match between Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas representing Team USA, and Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose representing Team Europe.

The match consisted of various formats, including foursomes, alternate shot, and singles play. But then came the thrilling finish: a closest to the pin competition on the Par 3 19th hole, known as the “Big Rock” hole. 

The hole is a picturesque, elevated Par 3 sheltered by the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. These legends were faced with around 170 yards downhill onto an island green, surrounded by water. 

With the overall match tied at 2-2, the closest tee shot on this hole would determine the winner. And to add to the pressure, legends of the game, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player also got involved. 

The unexpected winner of the closest to the pin challenge 

First to tee off were Nicklaus and Player, who, despite their age, leaned on their wealth of experience to stick their shots confidently on the green. The pair have 27 major championships between them, and they showed exactly why. Game on.  

Next came a stern-faced Thomas. He floated his ball up to the green and landed it about 10 feet right. It bounced twice, then stopped pin high. 

Then went McIlroy for Team Europe. He took a big divot, then cried, “Go! Nah, it’s short!” In fairness to him, it landed around five feet short but spun backwards. JT was still closest. 

Rose stepped up, and after a smooth swing, he stared down the ball. But it landed short of McIlroy and zipped backwards too, confirming the win for Team USA. All that was left was to see if the greatest of all time, Woods, could stick it closer than Thomas. 

There was an air of anticipation surrounding Woods as he stepped up to the tee. But he took his shot and instantly hated it. His ball stopped level with Rose. The winner among all of these legends? Justin Thomas! With McIlroy in a close second, beating his childhood hero, Woods, and teammate Rose.

Justin Thomas’ standout 2020 season

While he didn’t win either of his majors in the 2020 season, Thomas had a standout year. He took two victories on the PGA Tour and finished in the top 10 in over half of his starts.

The American kicked off the year with a win in Hawaii, defeating Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele in a playoff to take the first of a duo of wins. He also secured his second World Golf Championships title with a win at the FedEx St Jude Championship. 

Thomas’ win at the St Jude re-established him as the number one golfer in the world in the Official World Golf Rankings for the second time. He maintained a 69.1 scoring average over the season. 

Thomas had a top-10 finish at The Masters and the US Open, which remain his highest finishes at those majors to date. 

While he didn’t win a major, Thomas’ 2020 was one of the finest of his career. And he came out the winner in a competition of legends, which didn’t hurt!