One of the initiatives suggested earlier this year by Rory McIlroy in improving the appeal of golf was playing the ancient game under lights.
Well the four-time Major winner has got his wish as he will play an exhibition match against American Rickie Fowler on June 7th at the Detriot Golf Club, and in the week prior the U.S. Open in Pittsburg.
Quicken Loans is finalising details for a match involving McIlroy and Fowler a week before the US Open, a person familiar with the negotiations said on Monday.
Not since World War II has the Detroit Golf Club drawn Tour golfers for an event showcasing even a handful of the game’s elite.
McIlroy and Fowler will be paired with two celebrities who haven’t been named, in a four-man celebrity match at the club just south of Seven Mile Road and the Palmer Woods neighbourhood in Detroit.
Rory McIlroy and Rickie Folwer set to play under lights at the Detroit Golf Club on June 7th.
Two celebrities possibly being targeted are Justin Timberlake and The Italian Job & The Perfect Storm star Mark Wahlberg.
Contracts have not yet been signed, but a Detroit Golf Club source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of discussions being conducted, said Monday the match is tentatively set and the 18-hole event is to be televised by The Golf Channel and CBS.
The same source confirmed Quicken Loans, founded by Detroit native and entrepreneur Dan Gilbert, will be the event’s chief sponsor.
It is known the Detroit club for some time has been negotiating to hold a celebrity golf event at the 117-year-old property, which features two 18-hole courses designed by grand-master architect Donald Ross.
The Golf Channel will televise the first half of the evening event, with CBS handling the final two hours, from 9-11 p.m. Daylight in southeast Michigan typically allows golfers in early June to play past 9 p.m.
But the match will be played, at least partially, with reliance on artificial lights.
The DGC source said no contracts had yet been approved for golf-course lighting but lighting typically used for night football games at unlighted stadiums could be delivered to DGC.
Negotiations continue in a bid to lock down two non-Tour celebrities and partners for McIlroy and Fowler.
It is known CBS and other network bidders had floated thoughts of using NFL stars, and even late-night talk-show hosts.
It is believed the list of potential celebs could also involve two heavyweight entertainment names: singer-actor Justin Timberlake, a skilled golfer with a 6-handicap; and actor-producer Mark Wahlberg.
The Buick Open, in Grand Blanc, was the last regular PGA Tour event until it disappeared in 2009, erased mostly by bad economics.
Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills has been a periodic host of major championships, including the U.S. Open, as well as the Ryder Cup, but it has not been site of a major since the 2008 PGA Championship.
The U.S. Amateur will, however, be played at Oakland Hills in August.
Detroit Golf Club has not hosted an event featuring Tour pros in more than 70 years. During World War II, when the Ryder Cup was canceled, 10-man teams of professionals from the United States and Great Britain played in unofficial Saturday-Sunday events that were spread during those years among three area courses: Oakland Hills, Detroit Golf Club, and Plum Hollow.
Horton Smith, the first winner of the Masters tournament, played in the 1941 event at DGC before he was drafted into wartime service. He later returned to Detroit Golf Club as the club professional from 1946 until his death in 1963.
+ Thanks to Detriot News for extra reporting.
