![\"2026](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-pga-championship-round-one-newtown-pennsylvania-may-14-scottie-e1793680394632.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler (R) of the United States walks with Matthew Fitzpatrick of England during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 14, 2026 in Newtown, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Optum Golf Channel Games made their debut and brought with it an air of fun times<\/a>. The competition gave golf fans around the world a chance to watch a unique format. One that featured team games and entertaining competitions not usually seen in the golf world. The event highlighted a different kind of excitement in the sport and offered a glimpse of fan-favorite players in a brand new light.<\/p>\n Golf isn\u2019t typically known for mid-winter competition, but the Optum Golf Channel Games bring some offseason fun to the sport. Held in December in Jupiter, Florida, the made-for-TV event gives some of the game\u2019s biggest stars a chance to compete in a new way.<\/p>\n This year,<\/a> Scottie Scheffler will return as the face of Team Scottie. He will once again face off against Rory McIlroy, captain of Team Rory.<\/p>\n Team Scottie & Team Rory \u2013 Optum Channel Golf Games<\/p>\n Last year, Team Scheffler looked a little different than it does heading into the 2026 competition. Chris Gotterup, Michael Brennan, and young star Jackson Koivun<\/a> join the team as three new faces. There will, however, still be plenty of expectations from the newcomers as Scottie and his team look to defend their title.<\/p>\n Team Scottie WINS the inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games! \ud83c\udfc6\u2694\ufe0f <\/p>\n Rory will also see some new additions to his team. Matt Fitzpatrick and Si Woo Kim will join returning player Haotong Li. They\u2019ll look to take down Team Scottie and claim the top spot in this year\u2019s competition. They aim to stop Scheffler from going on a two-year run.<\/p>\n The games for this year\u2019s event haven\u2019t been announced, but fans can likely expect another round of fun and whimsical challenges. They will likely be similar to what was seen last season, but feature some unexpected twists as well. The competition will receive a primetime television slot on December 16, 2026, and be played at Trump National Golf Club.<\/p>\n 2025 Optum Channel Golf Games<\/p>\n Ahead of the inaugural Golf Channel Games, both Scheffler and McIlroy shared their thoughts<\/a> on the new event.<\/p>\n McIlroy compared the competition to all-star events in other sports. He explained that the challenges give golf an opportunity to showcase a different side of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the opportunity to showcase our game in a different way. Sort of lean into other sports in a way, like the\u00a0NFL<\/a>\u00a0combine or the 3-pointer contest in basketball or the Home Run Derby in baseball. It\u2019s just a chance to try something new.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Scheffler shared how it reminded him of competing as a kid and the fun he had with the challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, and you name it, chipping contests, 9-hole putting contests, 18-hole putting contests, trying to hit the yellow pole,\u201d\u00a0he s<\/a>aid. \u201c[I]f there was competition to be had growing up, I was challenging somebody, and it was always my favorite when the pros were out there.\u201d<\/p>\n With new players and challenges comes another opportunity to bring a different kind of competition to the golf world. Hopefully, the 2026 Optum Golf Channel Games can build on the success from last year\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSydney Jones<\/a> Sydney Jones is a sports writer covering all things Golf, Mariners, and Seahawks for Heavy.com. She has experience covering the intersection of sports and human interest stories for multiple publications. Originally from Montana, she recently relocated to Seattle and is enjoying the new experience of being surrounding by live professional sports and rooting for a common team while writing about them. More about Sydney Jones<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Scottie Scheffler (R) of the United States walks with Matthew Fitzpatrick of England during the first round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-950789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}