For the first time, “Capital One’s The Match” will feature female and male participants as LPGA Tour winners Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang will tee it up alongside PGA Tour winners Max Homa and Rory McIlroy on Feb. 26 at The Park in West Palm Beach, Fla. in the eighth edition of the event.
It will also be the first time that the 12-hole live golf event will see a mixed skins format. In this format, each hole will be worth a certain amount of money for charity, and all four athletes will play from the same tee boxes on the four par 3s featured in the 12-hole layout. The women and men will then utilize different tee boxes and yardages on the remaining eight holes. The player who earns the most money will be declared the winner.
This year’s charity beneficiary will be the First Tee, an organization that uses golf to empower kids by teaching them valuable life skills and providing personal growth opportunities that revolve around honesty, integrity, perseverance and respect, values that can be developed through the game of golf.
Thompson is an 11-time LPGA Tour winner who has one major championship on her resume, the 2014 Chevron Championship. She won the 2017 Race to the CME Globe and the 2017 Vare Trophy, and she has played on six consecutive Solheim Cup teams, most recently doing so last year in Spain. The 28-year-old is also a two-time Olympian, finishing in a tie for 19th at the 2016 Rio Olympics and finishing 33rd at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
First becoming a member in 2012, LPGA Tour veteran Thompson is excited to compete with Homa, McIlroy and Zhang in the latest installment of “Capital One’s The Match” and is looking forward to the unique format that will let the participants have a little more fun than they might normally while competing in a traditional tournament.
“Very excited. Super honored that they wanted me to be a part of it,” said Thompson. “I’ve watched some of them on TV, and they always seem fun to watch. It’s not a regular tournament where it’s all individual and you can kind of trash talk, and you’ve got the mics on. It’s a good group of us so it’ll be a good time. I think golf needs these kinds of little things. Make it more fun and interactive.”
Zhang burst onto the professional golf scene last summer, winning in her pro debut at the Mizuho Americas Open after defeating three-time LPGA Tour winner Jennifer Kupcho in a playoff at Liberty National Golf Club. She went on to earn four additional top-10 finishes throughout the rest of the 2023 season, three of which came in major championships, helping Zhang make a total of $1,389,794 in season earnings. She also made her Solheim Cup debut last year at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain.
Like Thompson, the 20-year-old is relishing the opportunity to play in “Capital One’s The Match” having watched many of the previous editions that have taken place in recent years. Zhang is also looking forward to contributing as much money as possible to the First Tee so as to make golf more widely accessible across the board for young players.
“I’m so excited to play in “Capital One’s The Match”,” said Zhang. “I’ve enjoyed watching the franchise over the years. They’ve had so many great celebrities and golfers involved, and I’m honored to tee it up alongside Rory, Max and Lexi. We’ll have a lot of fun raising money to help make the game more accessible for everyone.”
McIlroy has amassed 24 wins on the PGA Tour, four of which are major championships, and has won 17 times on the DP World Tour, most recently doing so last Sunday at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. He is a seven-time European Ryder Cup team member and has been ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for over 100 career weeks.
Homa is a six-time PGA Tour winner, most recently taking home the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open title last January, and has won once on the DP World Tour, doing so at the 2023 Nedbank Golf Challenge. The 33-year-old has earned $24,472,078 in career money and made his Ryder Cup debut in 2023 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy.
Watch coverage of “Capital One’s The Match” on TNT and its affiliates on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The newest edition of The Match will feature a mixed golf competition under the lights in West Palm Beach.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 23, 2024
🏌️♂️ Rory McIlroy
🏌️♀️ Lexi Thompson
🏌️♂️ Max Homa
🏌️♀️ Rose Zhang pic.twitter.com/DfjHvyGHqB
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