Holes 1-6 are worth $20,000, holes 7-12 are worth $30,000 and holes 13-18 are worth $40,000. A player must win a hole to win the skin and the money. If there is no winner, the money carries over to the next hole.
The first nine holes are played on Saturday, and the second nine holes are played on Sunday.
The course breaks down like this (according to Clari News):
Hole Yards Par Prize ---- ---- --- ----- 1 475 4 $20,000 2 466 4 $20,000 3 140 3 $20,000 4 360 4 $20,000 5 589 5 $20,000 6 214 3 $20,000 7 424 4 $30,000 8 187 3 $30,000 9 561 5 $30,000 10 403 4 $30,000 11 168 3 $30,000 12 576 5 $30,000 13 195 3 $40,000 14 443 4 $40,000 15 330 4 $40,000 16 431 4 $40,000 17 584 5 $40,000 18 446 4 $40,000 Out 3,416 35 $210,000 (1-9) In 3,576 36 $330,000 (10-18) Total 6,992 71 $540,000
Tom Watson won the very first skin in the first Skins Game of 1983. He won $10,000 for that skin.
ABC trivia mentioned that the youngest player in the field has only won three times (Fuzzy Zoeller 1985 and 1986; Curtis Strange 1989). The last rookie to win was Payne Stewart in 1991.
Watson followed. Then John Daly, who hit a monster 340-yard tee shot. Then Fred Couples. Watson birdied a 12-footer to win the first skin, and $20,000.
The second hole was halved. Watson put his ball in the water, but this would later prove to be his worst hole.
The third short hole featured a dramatic tee shot by Couples. His shot was inside of six inches, and he won the skin and $40,000. Daly's long putt almost halved the hole.
The fourth hole featured a chatty Tom Watson announcing "Watch out for the wind in the back swing" before Tiger teed off a monster 341-yard shot, which left him just short of the tee. John Daly's tee-shot was long, but not as well placed as Tiger's. Despite the good position, Tiger was not able to capitalize (he missed a birdie opportunity), and the hole was halved.
The fifth hole (par five) was the longest of the day. For Tiger, it would also mark his first skin at the Skins Game. (John Daly would hit his longest on the fifth hole: 385 yards.) Tiger's third shot (for the eagle) missed by almost six inches.
As the other players lined up their birdie shots, no one was able to put it away, with Fred Couples hooked what looked like a two-foot putt. Even Tiger thought that Couples would make his putt, but he said "I'll take anything."
There were no winners for the sixth and seventh holes. The eigth hole, par-three, was the first hole in which Tiger missed the green. However, it was Watson who prevailed, sinking a 12-foot putt for four skins, and $80,000.
There were no winners in the ninth. Once again, Watson faced Tiger, which prompted the announcers to say "It's the battle of Stanford", referring to the famous Stanford alumni in Watson and Woods. Tiger tapped in a birdie to tie.
Tomorrow's tenth hole would be worth $60,000.
The tenth hole, after two shots, featured a head-to-head putting contest between Woods and Watson. Tiger made his putt, and then watched as Watson made his putt. You heard Tiger jokingly say "C'mon, Tom!". Before Watson's putt, you heard him say to Tiger "It's like Stanford at 8AM".
The 11th featured pars by Watson and Woods to halve the hole.
The 12th hole also featured a Watson/Woods battle, this time for a birdie. Watson made his birdie putt, and Tiger birdied his 5-footer as well. The announcers made much of the fact that in this format, it is difficult to concentrate on a putt just to halve the hole. Tiger was equal to this particular challenge.
The par-three 13th was now worth $160,000 with all the carryovers. Shockingly, no one won there also, despite three excellent putts between the four players. Tiger's long putt attempt was short only a few inches, and you could see Tiger's disappointment on his face.
Woods and Daly both had an awful 14th hole. Watson and Couples, however, couldn't convert their putts, and the stakes were raised dramatically for the the 15th hole.
The 15th hole started with more joking from Daly. Daly pulled out Tiger's driver, as if to challenge Tiger to use it. Tiger did, despite saying he wouldn't use a driver at this hole. Tiger then proceeded to miss the green, right into the gallery. After Couple's tee-shot (with an iron), John Daly's driver put the ball just at the edge of the green.
The highlights at this hole would be provided by Daly, Watson, and Couples. Daly missed his birdie putt. Couples won the $240,000 hole on a very dramatic 8-foot putt for a birdie (the ball started to go left, then wrapped around the lip of the cup before falling in). Watson provided some humor by helping Couples read the putt.
This hole made Couples the first millionaire from Skins Game winnings.
No one won on the 16th, and the resulting carryover made the 17th hole worth $80,000. Curis Strange, of ABC, mentioned that in the wake of Couples win, the other three players would have a let-down of sorts. Winning the remaining money would be a challenge, but not the same thing as winning the whole tournament.
Woods and Daly had a tee-shot showdown on the 17th, with both hitting almost even ("If it was a horse race," Vin Scully said, "Tiger would have won by a nose.") at 320 yards. Curtis Strange tried to convey to the TV audience how immense this yardage is. "These two guys [Woods and Daly] are changing the game. Tiger Woods is going to make [everyone] better because he is so good", Curtis said. Woods and Daly tapped in their birdies, and carried over all the leftover money to the last hole.
The last hole, appropriately enough, was capped off by John Daly dramatics. Both Watson and Woods almost made their long birdie putts, but they both missed (Tiger "burned the hole"). Daly had excellent placement after his second shot, and the putt was makable. Except he missed, in a heartbreaker putt. It was clear to the announcers that the audience wanted John Daly to score a skin. Frankly, so did I.
They played the hole again, only the halve it. The second playoff took place on the par-4 tenth. Daly, on his third shot for birdie, roped a runner that barely missed, and he settled for tapping in his par. Tiger Woods, shooting before Watson, knew he had to make his birdie to keep ahead of Watson. Tiger missed by only inches, as the ball veered left of the hole at the last instant. Watson won the skin with a birdie, and added $120,000 to his $100,000 from yesterday.
Vin Scully was the chief announcer for the ABC coverage. His color commentator was Curtis Strange. Both of these announcers tried to keep the comments even handed. For the record, on Saturday, Curtis said he liked Fred Couples to win the thing.
After the second shot of the tenth hole, Mr. Scully broke into poetry:
tiger tiger burning bright in the forest of the night what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symetryMark Rolfing was the field announcer. He gave a sense of the atmosphere: the crowd, the shenanigans by Daly, and most of all, the intensity and excitement. He also ran after the winning players for on-the-spot interviews.
There were numerous trivia notes on the screen ("A skin has been won on the first hole 8 of 13 times, but only once by the eventual champ. (Curtis Strange, 1990)").
Throughout the TV coverage, you can hear the great crowd whooping it up for each tee shot and putt.
ABC provided capsule segments. In one segment, John Daly called his 1996 season "an embarassment". In the inevitable segment on what the other players thought of Tiger Woods, Tom Watson declared "In my unabashed opinion, Tiger is the next Jack Nicklaus."
There were a few gushing pieces on Tiger's "accomplished mission" (to be a superstar before the age of 21). The best segments showed Tiger as a kid, hamming it up for the cameras (you could see him trying to perfect his trademark crossed-leg-leaning-on-the-club stance).
ABC also asked Tiger "What surprised you the most in your first year on the PGA Tour". Tiger said the media, and the attention paid to him off the course. Tiger really shines in these interviews. He's very self-aware, often referring to the "Tiger-mania" as if it were something happening to some other person besides himself.
Of great interest to Tiger Woods fans is a new Nike commercial. It features numerous kids saying "I'm Tiger Woods." to earthy music. The diversity of the kids, and the fact that the images were largely kids playing golf points to one of the sure legacies of Tiger Woods' career.