After 17 years, golf’s most entertaining Black Friday tradition returns with trash talk, $4 million, and a twist you won’t see coming.

The Skins Game first gave fans something they’d never experienced before: hearing what professional golfers actually said to each other during play. For Keegan Bradley, growing up in New England, it became appointment television. The event featured golf icons like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Tiger Woods, and Fred Couples, all mic’d up and interacting in ways that felt revolutionary for golf coverage. Bradley recalls the magic of watching Trevino’s hole-in-one at PGA West and seeing players’ personalities emerge for the first time. Now, after nearly two decades, that magic returns this Black Friday with a field ready to deliver the banter golf fans have been missing.

Four Players Who Know How to Needle

The 2025 edition features FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood, two-time major winner Xander Schauffele, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, and three-time TOUR winner Shane Lowry. Justin Thomas was originally slated to compete but withdrew after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery for a disc problem that had been causing hip pain for months. The press conference previewing the event already delivered the kind of verbal sparring that made the original Skins Game must-watch TV. Lowry joked that Bradley had already paid him and Fleetwood extra not to discuss the Ryder Cup, while Bradley fired back that he’d be holding a golf club instead of a walkie-talkie. Schauffele, who’d prepared material specifically for Thomas, admitted he might need AI assistance to craft new jokes. The chemistry is there, and the competitive tension is real.

The Reverse Purse Changes Everything

Instead of starting at zero and accumulating winnings, each player begins with $1 million on the scoreboard, with totals rising and falling throughout the round. Producer Chad Mumm explained the concept emerged from conversations with competing players about creating more tangible pressure during play. The traditional format remains: each hole is worth one skin, and when players tie, the skin carries over until someone wins outright, potentially creating holes worth five or six skins later in the match. But watching fortunes swing wildly with each hole won or lost adds psychological drama the original format couldn’t match. Players won’t just be chasing winnings—they’ll be protecting what they already have while trying to take from their opponents.

Where Nicklaus Meets Next-Gen Design

The competition takes place at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a course co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas. The venue represents a perfect bridge between golf’s storied past and its modern future. Andrew Catalon will host the broadcast, with Colt Knost serving as on-course analyst and Dan Rapaport as on-course reporter. Coverage begins at 9 a.m. ET on Prime Video with no subscription or Prime membership required, making it accessible to anyone curious about what golf’s most personality-driven format looks like in 2025. The broadcast will be the only live sports programming before the NFL’s Black Friday game, giving The Skins Game a premium spotlight during one of America’s most watched television days.

The Human Side That Golf Needs

Bradley expressed concern about trash-talking the famously polite Fleetwood, joking that he’d feel compelled to apologize afterward. That tension between competition and camaraderie captures what made the original Skins Game special and what golf desperately needs more of in 2025. The format doesn’t require swing changes or strategy breakdowns—it demands personality. With Lowry planning Thanksgiving dinner for Fleetwood while Schauffele jokes about not receiving an invitation, the interpersonal dynamics are already in play. Whether the reverse purse creates the intended pressure or the European Ryder Cup heroes get revenge on American soil, one thing’s certain: golf’s most entertaining tradition is back exactly where it belongs—right in the middle of Thanksgiving weekend.