Live golf is back on May 17, as TaylorMade Driving Relief tees off at 2 p.m. Eastern from Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla.
Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson are teaming up to take on Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in a best-ball skins match that is set to go all 18 holes at the iconic Donald Ross design -- which, by the way, is making its national television debut.
Why TaylorMade Driving Relief is four hours
When the four players will tee off at 2 p.m. Eastern, they will have exactly four hours to play the entire round. The round and the telecast will end at 6 p.m. Eastern, according to the PGA Tour and organizers.
The reason why isn't a TV obligation or anything along those lines. There's a hard stop at 6 p.m. Eastern because Seminole Golf Club closes at 6 p.m. Every day. No matter what. No matter who is playing or why.
That means this will be a four-hour affair, regardless of the status of the match at that time. The expectation is the golfers will complete all 18 regulation holes by then. However, if the 18th hole ends in a tie, then the match won't be resolved in regulation. The plan is to then go to a playoff hole to determine the winner of the final skin and -- likely -- the whole match.
Of course, there's the possibility that the club makes the rarest of exceptions for its TV debut. However, according to the organizers and the PGA Tour, there were specific playoff rules in place that kept in mind the 6 p.m. stop time.
TaylorMade Driving Relief playoff format: What happens if there's a tie on 18
In the event the 18th hole is tied and regulation play ends prior to 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the players will play the par-3 17th hole from a shortened tee box at approximately 125 yards.
If that hole playoff hole is tied, then the remaining skin or skins will be decided by a closest-to-the-hole competition from the same shortened distance at the 17th hole.
If regulation play ends after 5:45 p.m. Eastern, then there will only be the closest-to-the-hole competition to determine the final skin or skins.
This means, at most, there will be two playoff holes. Likely, there would be just one.
