PGA stars Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson have prevailed in Monday's (NZ time) Driving Relief charity golf skins match, helping raise more than $US5 million ($NZ8.4m) for coronavirus relief in the process.
Squaring off against Matthew Wolff and Rickie Fowler, with neither fans nor caddies in attendance at the Seminole Golf Club in Florida, McIlroy made the money shot on the closest-to-the hole tiebreaker on the 17th green, after scores were locked after 18 holes.
In the skins format, each golfer plays his own ball, and the team’s lowest score on each hole is counted. Low-ball for the hole wins the hole and the skins (the dollar amount allocated) available for that hole.
If a hole is tied, that money carries over to the next hole.
On the tiebreaker, Fowler had missed the green, Wolff hit within 18 feet of the hole and Johnson hit a bunker, leaving McIlroy to lay up 13 feet from the pin to seal victory.
But a cameo appearance from US President Donald Trump was widely considered an unnecessary addition from broadcaster NBC.
Trump, who has been criticised for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, was interviewed during the round.
"This is the beginning of live events," Trump told host Mike Tirico. "We want to get sports back.
"We miss sports. We need sports in terms of the psyche of our country.
"That's what we're doing - we're getting it back."
On Sunday, McIlroy openly derided Trump for using the pandemic for his own political gains, stating: "It's just not the way a leader should act."
But Trump, an avid golfer himself, was adamant he was on great terms with the pros.
"I know so many of the tour players,” he said. "I can't think of anyone I don't like and I can’t say that in life.
"When you meet tour players, they are all great people."
Fans took to social media to express their disappointment.
Only a skeleton TV crew was allowed on the course, so players often had to wait for one of the six cameras to get into position. Play-by-play commentator and analysts were more than 300km away in St. Augustine, Florida.
"It was an awesome day," McIlroy said afterwards. "It was nice to get back on the golf course and get back to some sort of normalcy."
The players were all microphoned, although the banter was fairly limited.
McIlroy probably provided the trash-talk highlight, when he made a clutch putt on the second hole to match Wolff.
"I think you forget I've won two FedEx Cups that total $25 million," he told the 21-year-old American. "That doesn’t faze me, youngster."
Next up for golf is another exhibition on May 25, where Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will team up with NFL quarterback legends Peyton Manning and Tom Brady respectively in a match billed as 'Champions for Charity' to raise more funds for COVID-19 relief.
