ADT Skills Challenge announces format, teams

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NEW YORK -- The ADT Golf Skills Challenge will introduce another innovative format in 2009, adding a "Reverse Scramble" competition to the traditional situational shotmaking as eight PGA TOUR pros compete for $800,000 in prize money.

Four teams -- Kenny Perry/J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker/Boo Weekley, Nick Price/Fred Funk and Hunter Mahan/Nick Watney -- will square off on Oct. 26 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla., for the 18th renewal of the PGA TOUR's Challenge Season event. The ADT Skills Challenge is one of the longest-running post-FedExCup competitions. It will be telecast on NBC Dec. 26-27, as the only golf on network TV the final weekend of the year.

Perry and Holmes form a native Kentucky team. Price and Funk are the veterans entry, boasting 46 years of combined PGA TOUR experience. Snedeker, Mahan and Watney join Holmes as top-flight players, still in their 20s, who are now challenging the biggest names in golf for stature and prize money. Those four, Weekley and Perry are playing in the ADT Skills Challenge for the first time.

The six mainstay skills -- Long Drive, Mid-Iron, Bunker Shot, Chip Shot, Trouble Shot and Short Iron -- will be followed by the "Reverse Scramble," representing the seventh and eighth skills. In the "Reverse Scramble," the four teams will be seeded according to prize money won in the first six skills. With one vs. four and two vs. three, the teams will play the 14th hole at The Breakers' Ocean Course. The two surviving teams will then compete in another one-hole "Reverse Scramble" for the weighted sum of $200,000 in prize money, enabling most pairs to remain in contention to the end.

Contrary to the traditional scramble format, the rules of the "Reverse Scramble" call for the opposing team to select which shot its rival twosome must play, adding a new dimension to the competition. The format is especially conducive to the ADT Skills Challenge TV production approach, which showcases the personalities of the players, all of whom are equipped with microphones throughout.

"The ADT Skills Challenge has the flexibility to bring an innovative format like the 'Reverse Scramble' to the competition," said Jon Miller, Executive Vice President of NBC Sports, which owns and operates the event. "It adds an element of strategy to the pure shotmaking talents of these pros. The home TV audience will be in on all of the entertaining chatter among the players."

"ADT has been the title sponsor of the ADT Golf Skills Challenge for the past eight years and we greatly value the relationship we've developed with NBC Sports over this time," said John Koch, president of ADT Security Services, North America. "We are excited to bring this first-class event back to Palm Beach County, where ADT's North American corporate headquarters is located."

The first six skills will also take place on the 14th hole at the Ocean Course with the following shots on tap:

• ADT Long Drive

• Korbel Mid-Iron

• The Breakers Bunker Shot

• Under Armour Chip Shot

• ADT Trouble Shot

• Korbel Short Iron

The $800,000 in prize money will be awarded as follows:

Skills 1-5

• First Place - $25,000 split

• Second Place - $15,000 split

• Third Place - $13,000 split

• Fourth Place - $10,000 split

Skill 6

• First Place - $35,000 split

• Second Place $20,000 split

• Third Place - $16,000 split

• Fourth Place - $14,000 split

Skills 7 and 8

The heavily weighted "ADT Reverse Scramble" is likely to decide the winner with the following prize money allocation:

• First Place - $200,000 split

• Second Place - $100,000 split

• Third Place - $50,000 split

• Fourth Place - $50,000 split

Last year, the ADT Skills Challenge invited the pro golfers to bring their caddies to the competition, and the team of Greg Norman and Greg Norman, Jr., won the title over Fred Couples/Joe LaCava, Rocco Mediate/Matt Achatz and Peter Jacobsen/Fluff Cowan.

In recent years, tournament officials invited LPGA stars including Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis to compete with the men, and major sports celebrities John Elway, Dan Marino, Jerry Rice, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire have also played.