Golf

The Match 2022 final scores, results: Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth dominate Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy under the lights

Photo of Best News And Media Affiliates Best News And Media AffiliatesDec 26, 2022 4:45 pm
0 502 8 minutes read

Four of golf’s biggest stars went head-to-head Saturday night, with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth emerging victorious in the 2022 edition of “The Match.”

The two good friends easily took down the team of Tiger Woods and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, winning 3&2 in the 12-hole event at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.

Woods was clearly rusty in his first televised round of golf since The Open Championship in July. He also has been battling plantar fasciitis, which has made it difficult for him to walk and forced him to withdraw from his own tournament — the Hero World Challenge — last week. However, his trash talk was as sharp as ever. 

Thomas and Spieth looked dialed in from start to finish. Thomas made several clutch putts to win holes 2, 4 and 8, while Spieth hit an incredible shot on the 10th hole and then rolled in a putt to secure the victory.  

Its was a unique event in part because it was one of the first times we’ve been able to watch top professionals play under the lights. The event raised money for victims of Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida earlier this year. 

The Sporting News tracked live highlights and scoring updates from “The Match” 2022. Here are all the key moments you might have missed from the head-to-head golf battle. 

‘The Match’ score

  Woods-McIlroy Thomas-Spieth
Hole 1 -1 -1
Hole 2 E -1 (1 up)
Hole 3 E -1 (2 up)
Hole 4 E -1 (3 up)
Hole 5 E E
Hole 6 E E
Hole 7 -1  E (2 up)
Hole 8 E -1 (3 up)
Hole 9 E E
Hole 10 -1 -1 (Wins 3&2)
Hole 11 — —
Hole 12 — —

‘The Match’ live updates, highlights from 2022 golf contest

(All times Eastern.)

9:42 p.m. — It’s over! Rory made his birdie putt, but Jordan poured his right in after that to close this match out. Spieth and Thomas win 3&2. 

9:39 p.m. — Jordan hits his drive right into the pine straw on hole 10, but he pulls off a miraculous approach to stick in in there tight. Tiger hits a bit of a loose approach shot to the middle off the green, then Rory and JT knock it close as well. If either Jordan or JT makes their putt, this match is over. 

9:25 p.m. — Spieth knocks his putt close and it’s conceded for a par. McIlroy steps up, but his birdie try rolls by the left edge. Finally, Tiger has a chance to win the hole… and burns the left edge. That putt looked in for a very long time, but it didn’t go down. Thomas and Spieth have now secured at least a playoff, as they lead 3 up with 3 to play. 

9:15 p.m. — Spieth and Thomas can win the match here with a victory on the par 3 9th hole. Jordan hits his safely in the middle of the green, then JT leaves his just a tad short and it goes into the greenside bunker. Rory hits a beauty to about 18 feet and finally Tiger also stripes one to about 15 feet to earn closest-to-the-hole honors. Woods and McIlroy are in desperate need of a birdie. 

9:03 p.m. — The competitors step up to the tee on the par 3 8th hole, and Tiger gets a roar out of the crowd by sticking it to about 5 feet! Thomas responds with a great shot of his own, while Jordan and Rory both go long. Tiger pulls his putt and misses it left, but JT makes his to restore the 3 up lead! That was a big swing. 

8:55 p.m. — After Tiger and Jordan go over the green with their approaches, Jordan and Rory hit it onto the green. Rory proceeds to hole a great putt for birdie to force JT to make it to halve the hole. Thomas’ putt slides by on the low side, and the team of Woods and McIlroy has finally won its first hole of the evening. 

8:39 p.m. — JT, Jordan and Tiger find the fairway with their tee shots on the par 5 7th hole, while Rory hooks his left into the trees. He hits a great recovery shot to make it back onto the fairway and JT smacks his down the fairway as well, but Tiger and Jordan pull their shots to the left.

8:30 p.m. — Tiger’s putt from off the green just lips out on the high side. JT and Jordan very cheekily concede Rory’s par putt from about 8 feet just as he’s about to hit it, which draws plenty of laughs from the studio. But it comes back to bite them when Thomas misses his short birdie putt! The lead remains 3 up. 

8:25 p.m. — JT puts one in tight with a gorgeous approach on the par 4 6th hole. Tiger and Rory both miss the green, while Spieth faces a long putt for birdie. This could be turning into a blowout. 

8:11 p.m. — On the par 3 5th hole, Spieth misses left of the green, while the other three players hit it safely on. Rory hit his closest to the pin — about 7 or 8 feet. Birdie putts for Tiger and JT slide by, and Rory lips his out. A missed opportunity there to cut into the deficit. 

8:00 p.m. — JT cozies it up near the hole with a lovely 5-wood shot to set up a very makeable birdie. He curls in the putt (?) to win another hole for his team and donate $500,000 to charity. Thomas and Spieth are running away with it.

7:58 p.m. — McIlroy ended up in the pine straw, and now faces a daunting shot into the green made even more difficult by the fact he must use a 3-iron. He does pretty well to punch it up near the green, but he’ll be hitting his 4th shot from there. Tiger punches his over the green, while Spieth hit a nice approach to about 20 feet to set up a birdie putt. Advantage Spieth and Thomas.

7:52 p.m. — McIlroy caught a nasty break and found a divot on his tee shot. He tried to hit a spectacular high cut over the trees (and spectators) but he chunked it and it ended up somewhere deep in the woods. Tiger and Jordan both hit it up safely short of the green, while Thomas airmailed the green.

7:44 p.m. — Hole 4 is an interesting one — the “one club challenge.” Each player has to pick a single club to use all the way from tee to green. Spieth goes first using a 4-iron and slices it way right into the trees, then Thomas (using 5-wood) hits the fairway and McIlroy stripes it down the middle with a 3-iron. Tiger mysteriously refused to say which club he was using, but he aimed about 50 yards right and slung a crazy draw into the adjacent fairway. 

7:37 p.m. — Spieth drains his putt for another birdie to take a 2 up lead! They’ve got all the momentum early. 

7:32 p.m. — Thomas and Spieth take the lead to hole No. 3, a par 3. Spieth hits a great tee shot to about 10 feet, then Thomas and McIlroy follow it up by knocking it safely on the green. Tiger goes last, and comes up just short in the green side bunker. 

7:26 p.m. — After McIlroy narrowly misses, Thomas buries the birdie putt from long distance to give his team the lead! 

7:21 p.m. — The second hole is a longer par 4. Tiger misses badly on his approach, leaving a long pitch shot for his third. Spieth also misses, plopping his into the green side bunker, while McIlroy and Thomas safely find the green and have birdie putts from 15-20 feet.

7:12 p.m. — Woods calmly drains his birdie putt to halve the opening hole. He carried the team on that one. He mentioned that his son, Charlie, finally outdrove him for the first time recently. That must have been quite a moment for the Woods family!

7:10 p.m. — Thomas chips his ball up to within just a few inches of the cup and the putt was conceded for birdie. McIlroy didn’t;t hit a great shot, so he faces a long birdie putt while Tiger pitched up to leave himself a couple feet. 

7:06 p.m. — And they’re off on the opening hole, a drivable par 4. McIlroy went first and ended up in the right rough, while the other three players came up just short of the green and will face pretty easy pitch shots. 

7:03 p.m. — The players have already mentioned a few times how playing at night will be a different challenge. Spieth mentioned the lack of depth perception on the greens as a possible issue.

6:59 p.m. — The pre-match festivities are over and the players are heading for the first tee. Time to play some golf. 

6:35 p.m. — Timeless.

6:34 p.m. — The players have made their way to the range from the press conference room. We’ll see how Tiger looks as he prepares for his first televised golf since July. 

6 p.m. — Tiger had an interesting answer when asked about the LeBron vs. Jordan debate:

5:56 p.m. — The trash talk has officially begun.

5:42 p.m. — Sounds like Justin Thomas learned this the hard way…

What time is ‘The Match’ golf contest today?

  • Date: Saturday, Dec. 10
  • Start time: 7 p.m. ET

“The Match” will tee off at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday from Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla. The weather forecast calls for perfect conditions, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-60s Fahrenheit. 

How to watch ‘The Match’ 2022 in the U.S.

  • TV channels: TNT, TBS, HLN, TruTV
  • Live stream: TNT app, Sling TV

TNT will carry the main broadcast of “The Match,” though HLN, TBS and TruTV will carry simulcasts of the coverage. Brian Anderson will host the broadcast with Charles Barkley and Trevor Immelman providing analysis and Kathryn Tappen reporting from the course.


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Photo of Best News And Media Affiliates Best News And Media AffiliatesDec 26, 2022 4:45 pm
0 502 8 minutes read
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