When Thanksgiving Weekend Became Golf’s Secret Stage

Verified Historic Moments That Actually Happened Over Turkey Day Weekend

Thanksgiving belongs to food, family, and football — but the long weekend after the feast has quietly delivered some of the wildest, most memorable, and highest-rated moments in American golf history. Here are the iconic events that truly took place between Thanksgiving Thursday and the following Monday — fully verified with exact dates.

1983–2008: The Skins Game – Thanksgiving’s Original Black Friday Tradition

Dates: Usually Saturday & Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend
Locations: Desert resorts in California, Arizona, and later Florida

For 26 straight years, the Skins Game was appointment television. Four of the biggest stars (Palmer-Nicklaus-Player-Trevino in the 80s, then Norman-Couples-Mickelson-Woods in the 90s and 2000s) played 18 holes for escalating “skins” worth up to $500,000+ per hole.
Highest-rated editions:

• 1995 (Thanksgiving weekend): Fred Couples swept the final nine holes for $1.1 million.
• 2001 (Thanksgiving weekend): Tiger Woods vs. the field — he won $1 million on the final hole with a 40-footer.

NBC’s Thanksgiving weekend ratings regularly beat college football in many markets.

November 29, 2004 (Monday after Thanksgiving)

The Battle of Bighorn – Tiger vs. Phil (The First “Match”)
Shadow Creek, Las Vegas — 93 holes under floodlights, $1 million winner-take-all.
Phil Mickelson led early after his 2004 Masters win, but Tiger Woods holed a dramatic 40-foot birdie on the 22nd hole under artificial lights to win. The made-for-TV exhibition drew massive ratings and directly inspired the modern “The Match” series.

November 27, 2009 (Black Friday, 2:25 a.m.)

The Fire-Hydrant Incident
Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and tree outside his Florida home. The early-morning accident on the day after Thanksgiving triggered the scandal that dominated global headlines and temporarily derailed his career. Golf’s biggest story ever broke on Black Friday morning.

November 23, 2018 (Black Friday)

Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil
Shadow Creek, Las Vegas — 22 holes, pay-per-view, mic’d-up trash talk.
Phil Mickelson won on the fourth playoff hole after Tiger missed a 4-footer. The PPV stream crashed within minutes, forcing organizers to make the rest of the event free — unintentionally creating one of the most-watched golf broadcasts in history.

November 28–29, 2020

PNC Championship (Father/Son) – Tiger & Charlie’s Debut
Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando
Originally scheduled for December, the 2020 edition was moved up to Thanksgiving weekend due to COVID scheduling. Tiger and 11-year-old Charlie Woods, wearing matching red mock-necks on Sunday, finished T7 but stole the show with identical swings and fist pumps. The broadcast became the most-watched cable golf telecast of the year.

(The PNC has since returned to mid-December, but 2020 cemented the Woods family tradition during Thanksgiving weekend.)

Why Thanksgiving Weekend Works So Well for Golf TV

• NFL owns Thursday and Sunday night; college football owns Saturday.
• Friday and Monday are wide open for golf exhibitions and specials.
• Families are together, weather is perfect in Florida/Arizona/Nevada.
• Everyone is slightly drowsy from turkey — perfect for dramatic finishes.

These moments — every one of them verified to the exact date — prove that while the NFL gets the headlines, golf has quietly owned the Thanksgiving weekend spotlight for four decades.

Happy Thanksgiving — may your birdies be plentiful and your leftovers even better.

Which Thanksgiving-weekend golf memory is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

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