Omar Ornelas/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Amazon Prime Video will air the first Skins Game since 2008 when it returns this fall on Black Friday, Nov. 28. The PGA Tour-sponsored event will be followed on the air by the NFL and two NBA games.
From 1983 to 2008, the Skins Game was an unofficial-money event on the PGA Tour. During its run, Fred Couples was the most dominant competitor, winning five Skins Games and $4,405,000 in prize money. It was canceled in 2009 after LG pulled its sponsorship of the event. Beginning in 2018, it was replaced by a similar event, The Match.
According to a PGA Tour press release, the 2025 Skins Game will feature 2025 FedExCup champion, 2025 Ryder Cup points leader and seven-time DP World Tour champion Tommy Fleetwood, 16-time PGA Tour winner Justin Thomas, two-time major champion Xander Schauffele and eight-time PGA Tour winner Keegan Bradley.
This year the format will be different from prior Skins Games in that all players will begin the competition with $1 million on the scoreboard and players will gain and lose money with each hole played at Panther National in South Florida. Also of note, Justin Thomas consulted with Jack Nicklaus on the design of the golf course on which they will be playing.
“The PGA Tour is proud to bring back the iconic Skins Game as the kickoff to the sports calendar’s biggest day of the year,” said Chris Wandell, PGA Tour senior vice president, Media. “With four of our game’s biggest stars competing in a modern re-imagining of this nostalgic event, fans around the world are in for a treat this Black Friday as the Tour tees off a full day of sports action on Prime Video.”
The Skins Game will air at 9 a.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video, followed by the an NFL game: the Chicago Bears vs. the Philadelphia Eagles at 3 p.m., and two NBA games: the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m., and the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m.
History of the Skins Game
The first Skins Game was held at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1983 with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player as the first participants. Player ended up winning the event and the top prize of $170,000. The last golfer to win the event was K.J. Choi in 2008. He took home $415,000 for his victory.
Tiger Woods played in the Skins Game multiple times, but never won it. He did finish second twice, however. LPGA Tour star Annika Sorenstam (pictured above with Woods at the event) also finished second in 2003.
The most money ever won in a single Skins game was $1 million by Greg Norman in 2001 when he took all 18 skins, leaving Tiger Woods, Colin Montgomerie and Jesper Parnevik completely shut out of the money. Fred Funk came close to matching Norman in 2005 when he won $925,000.