Earning their appearance fee dollars on Tuesday, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler beat Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson in what may be a preview of a match of next September's Ryder Cup.
However, this one-hole match ahead of this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship was dubbed the Rider Cup.
That's because the four players played a variation of speed golf while riding what's called a GolfBoard, personal golf transportation devices which are a combination of skateboard, surfboard and off-road vehicle. Each player hit their tee shot on the hole they played, told that to win their team had to be the first to hole both balls.
After a little bit of an awkward start, all four players got into riding the GolfBoard, with Spieth and McIlroy nearly crashing into each other at one point. Following the start of approach shots, it turned into a full-on sprint to hole shots, with the Europeans also trying to protect the hole with some soccer-style goaltending. Eventually, however, the American duo came out as winners.
Troon Golf, which manages tournament host Abu Dhabi Golf Club, offers GolfBoard at a number of its courses around the United States and the rest of the world. Billy Casper Golf, the largest U.S.-only owner-operator of golf courses, has the product available for rent at many of its courses.
