By CNN
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History beckons for the ninth edition of Capital One’s The Match on Monday, as female golfers tee off at the event for the very first time.
Stars of the LPGA and PGA Tour will dovetail as Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang join Rory McIlroy and Max Homa under the lights at The Park in West Palm Beach, Florida for the televised tournament.
Having raised $38 million for charitable causes across its previous eight iterations, each of the event’s 12 holes will be worth a specified amount for charity, with the player who raises the most money crowned the winner.
This year’s tournament will support First Tee, a youth organization chaired by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan which aims to develop children’s social skills through golf.
Every golfer will tee off at the same point for the first four par-3 holes, while the remaining eight will vary in terms of tee box and yardage for the men and women.
How to watch
Broadcast coverage will begin on TNT at 6:30 p.m. ET (11:30 p.m. GMT) on Monday.
The commentary team sees ‘Inside the NBA’ duo Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley joined by 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman, three-time LPGA Tour winner Christina Kim and sportscaster Kathryn Tappen, with music producer DJ Khaled and former NHL player Paul Bissonnette also featuring on coverage.
The event will be simulcast online via TBS, truTV and HLN, as well as on the Bleacher Report app.
TNT Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports and briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which owns CNN.
‘It’s something that I never really imagined would happen’
In the LPGA corner sits one of the most prodigious youngsters ever seen in the game – and the latest in line to the title.
Having made history as the youngest ever US Women’s Open qualifier at just 12 years old in 2007, Thompson turned professional amid great expectations in 2010. She wasted little time meeting them, winning the Navistar LPGA Classic just over a year later to become the then-youngest-ever winner of an LPGA tournament.
She’s since added 10 more titles, including a major triumph at the 2014 Chevron Championship, to blossom into one of the tour’s biggest names. That status was recognized in October when she became just the seventh woman ever to compete in a PGA Tour event at the Shriners Open.
Though she fell just short of making the cut, a feat not achieved by a woman on the men’s tour since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945, a second round-69 – bettered only by Michelle Wie’s 68 at the 2006 Sony Open – sees the 29-year-old arrive in Florida confident in her ability to mix it with the PGA Tour’s finest.
“Growing up with two older brothers and their friends, I grew up playing with guys, so I was definitely more relaxed,” Thompson told reporters in January.
“I just wanted to go out there and show those kids that don’t have those kind of opportunities that any dream is possible if they just put their mind to it. No dream is too big, so they should go after what they want and just try to achieve anything.”
Zhang took even less time to announce her arrival on the game’s biggest stage.
The Stanford University student turned pro in May having become the most decorated player in the history of women’s amateur golf, signing off by becoming the first women’s golfer to ever win back-to-back individual NCAA national titles.
And on her first professional start less than two weeks later, Zhang saw off major champion Jennifer Kupcho in a sudden death playoff at the Mizuho Americas Open to become the first player to win an LPGA tournament on her pro debut in 72 years.
Still attending classes at Stanford, the 20-year-old had a statistics exam last week, but was never going to pass up on a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“Playing against PGA stars, it’s something that I never really imagined would happen,” Zhang said.
“It’s just such a great opportunity for myself to test my game against the best in the world on the PGA side, and to open up my horizons a lot more … you don’t really get to compete with the men a lot as a woman, and to do so, it’s kind of a huge honor.”
Trash talk
While Homa gets his first taste of The Match, McIlroy is out to set the record straight.
The Northern Irishman and Tiger Woods suffered a bruising defeat to long-time friends Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas two years ago and is looking forward to a fresh start with the added twist of LPGA talent.
“I think it could elevate the women’s game,” McIlroy told reporters in January.
“It’s certainly a different format. It’s played in prime time, people have more time to sit down and watch. You’re combining the golf element with that popular culture-type element that The Match is so good at doing.
“It’ll certainly give all of us, but especially the two girls, a different platform on which to show showcase their skills. Something like this could be amazing for the women’s game down the road.”
Four-time major champion McIlroy believes the style of the event, which sees players mic’d up for back-and-forth chatter with eachother and the commentary team, is “perfect” for Homa – an ever-entertaining presence on social media.
Recent online activities have included the 33-year-old American inviting users to send in videos of their swing technique so he can “roast” them, with one reading: “Since you already dug a little hole for your phone, just finish the burial process so you never have to look at this again.”
While Homa concedes McIlroy may have a better resume, the six-time PGA Tour winner believes he can hold his own in the trash talk department.
“Let’s see, he probably just goes straight to how many majors he’s won,” Homa added to reporters last month.
“I’ve watched so many of these and enjoyed the banter … obviously Charles [Barkley] is the best at all of that, so it’s going to be fun to get to test myself.
“We’re always told to let the clubs do the talking but, in this scenario, we’ll actually just get to do the do the talking ourselves. It’ll be fun experience.”
