Monday Night Golf
Showdown at Sherwood
Battle at Bighorn
Battle at the Bridges
Duel at Lake Jinsha
United States
8
4 hours+
August 2, 1999 –
2012
2003 Battle at the Bridges[edit]
The fifth match in the series took place on July 28, 2003, and used the same fourball format as the previous year, but with four top PGA Tour players. Woods and García were again in opposition, this time paired with Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson respectively. The match also had a new venue, The Bridges Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and was titled Battle at the Bridges as a result.
The match finished under lights, with García and Mickelson coming out on top, defeating their then world number one and two ranked opponents 3 & 1. García eagled the 16th hole to put himself and Mickelson on the road to the $1,200,000 winners prize. Woods and Els shared $500,000, with $300,000 being donated to charity.[21]
For the third year running, viewing figures fell, with the first instalment of a three-year deal at the Bridges recording a 4.6 Nielsen rating.[22]
2004 Battle at the Bridges[edit]
The second Battle at the Bridges was played on August 2, 2004, in the now established fourball betterball format. The theme was long drivers. Tiger Woods was joined by Hank Kuehne to take on the pairing of Phil Mickelson and John Daly.
Daly and Mickelson started well and were 2 up through 12 holes, but Woods and Kuehne made three straight birdies followed by an eagle to win the next four holes and take a 2 up lead themselves. They halved the 17th hole to win the match 2 & 1.[23]
Ratings for the Battle at the Bridges continued to slide, with the 2004 edition producing a 3.6 Nielsen rating, the lowest of the series to date.[6]
2005 Battle at the Bridges[edit]
The final Battle at the Bridges took place on July 25, 2005. Organisers had wanted this last exhibition to be contested by the big four names in world golf at the time, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els but Singh refused to take part,[24] so Tiger Woods was teamed up with John Daly, to take on Mickelson and Els. However Els later withdrew and was replaced by Retief Goosen.
In the most one sided match of the series, Mickelson and Goosen won 5 & 3, to collect $500,000 each plus $100,000 for each of their nominated charities.[25] Woods and Daly picked up $200,000 each, with $50,000 for their charities.[26] It was also the first match not to reach the floodlit last three holes, as Goosen made four birdies in six holes to seal the win at the 15th.
With ratings failing to pick up, and Woods stating his desire to take a break from the event, this proved to be the final match in the series.[27]