It’s happening – Tiger and Phil set to play for $9m this year

Clear your diaries for November 23 – the long-rumoured, Tiger vs Phil, high-stakes, money-match is ON.

‘The Match’, as it is being dubbed, will be played at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas and will be a traditional 18-hole matchplay competition, with a $9m winner-tales-all prize fund.

The duel will be produced by Turner Sports, which currently has rights to the US PGA Championship in the United States, and will be broadcast on pay-per-view television.

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It is unclear at this moment who will broadcast the contest in the UK.

Both players and their caddies will wear microphones throughout and it is expected there will be ‘in-play’ competitions between the two, such as longest drive and nearest-the-pin.

Organisers have yet to confirm how many tickets will be sold for the event or how much they will cost. It is unclear also when it will tee off but it is believed that there is an option to allow the match to end around 8pm or 9pm, which would mean the last few holes being played under lights. That would also be bad news for fans watching on this side of the Atlantic, with Las Vegas being eight hours behind the UK.

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“It allows us to be a little bit more real, if you will,” Mickelson told reporters after his pro-am The Northern Trust yesterday. “We think there will be some pretty good interest, but we’re also trying to present it in a way that you don’t get to see with normal TV.”

Mickelson, coincidentally or otherwise, also joined Twitter yesterday and, already, he and Tiger have indulged in a little back and forth over their upcoming tussle.