Capital One’s The Match is back, and for the first time ever, two female golfers will be competing. LPGA superstars Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson will tee it up alongside four-time major champion Rory McIlroy and six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa in a 12-hole skins match to be held on Monday, Feb. 26 at the Park Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Not only will this be the first edition of the match to feature LPGA players, but it will be only the second of which to be held under the lights. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas defeated Tiger Woods and McIlroy under night fall in the seventh iteration of The Match at Pelican Golf Club in December 2022.Â
Unlike the previous versions of The Match, which pitted team against team, this version will be an individual competition. While there have been two head-to-head matchups, there has never been a foursome to compete individually.Â
The first-ever mixed event will feature a skins format where each hole will be worth a certain dollar amount towards charity. All players will play from the same tees on the par 3s while using varying tee boxes on the eight remaining holes for the men and women. Whichever golfer raises the most money for charity through the winning skins will be crowned the champion.
McIlroy is the only player of the four to have experience in The Match, and his first go-round did not end favorably. The 34-year-old lost 3&2 to Thomas and Spieth alongside Woods. He is likely to be the favorite to take home the belt, but it will have to be earned. Homa was recently featured in a similar competition this past fall in the Netflix Cup and will arrive in Florida fresh off the California swing on the PGA Tour.
The ladies may end up being the stars of the show. Zhang, 20, has taken the golf world by storm in her short time on the professional stage. Turning pro last May, the Stanford product won in her LPGA debut at the Mizuho Americas Open, a victory which came on the heels of winning the NCAA Division I individual title for the second straight year.
Thompson, meanwhile, is no stranger teeing it up alongside men. She made history this past fall when she played in the Shriners Children’s Open on the PGA Tour. narrowly missing the cut. In that event, the 11-time LPGA winner and major champion proved her game is good enough to hang with her male counterparts.Â
Both Thompson and Zhang were members of the U.S. Solheim Cup team this past fall in Spain while McIlroy and Homa faced off in the Ryder Cup the following week in Rome. Thompson and Zhang also recently played in the Grant Thornton Invitational where they teamed up with Rickie Fowler and Sahith Theegala respectively.Â