Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy beat Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in The Showdown on Tuesday. Team PGA Tour blitzed their LIV Golf counterparts, winning the match on the 16th hole. The prize was $10 million in cryptocurrency courtesy of the sponsor, Crypto.com. Scheffler had a funny reaction to winning crypto, which apparently is a new venture for the world's top player.
"You know I don't know a whole lot about Crypto but this is some good motivation to do some research" 🤣
-Scottie Scheffler after he and Rory McIlroy beat Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau to win $10M in Crypto at the https://t.co/soilk9AQvX Showdown pic.twitter.com/ILdKqmnqp5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 18, 2024
Lauren Jbara asks Scheffler how the crypto fits into his portfolio and the Masters champion responds, “Ya know, I don't know a whole lot about crypto but this is good motivation to do some research. Maybe ask [Crypto.com CMO] Steve [Kalifowitz] a couple of questions.”
Scheffler won over $29 million in PGA Tour earnings in 2024 through his seven wins and 16 top-ten finishes. His historic season earned him the Player of the Year for a third consecutive season. But none of that was awarded in cryptocurrency, so there was not much to worry about for Scheffler.
Scheffler and McIlroy closed out their 2024 with a dominant win over DeChambeau and Koepka. While it was a great year for the world's number-one player, it was not amazing for McIlroy. He choked away the US Open to DeChambeau in June, something the champion brought up on Monday. They ended with a resounding win.
Scottie Scheffler closes out his historic year with a crypto purse
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What Scheffler will do with his crypto purse is up for debate. The value of cryptocurrency has gone up in recent months so he may want to hold onto it. But many fans were unsurprised that Scheffler had no idea what to do with his winnings.
@adplacksports summed it up simply, “Not sure there is a more fitting summation for the state of pro golf in 2024 than Scottie Scheffler receiving a 10 million dollar ‘crypto-purse' that he doesn’t know how to use.”
It is both a funny observation of Scheffler, who comes off as an innocent family man, and the entire state of golf. Scheffler's piece is the same thing that made his arrest such a fascinating story. But the state of the professional game is the reason The Showdown even happened. Koepka and DeChambeau are among the players who jumped to LIV Golf. The fractured state of the game has led to bizarre visuals, like this one.
This will not be Scheffler's last made-for-tv golf event. Even though he is not a part of TGL, the simulator league starting in January, he will be in these matches moving forward. Maybe he'll diversify his crypto profile.