Quicken Loans is "finalizing details for a match involving Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler" at Detroit Golf Club (DGC) a week before the U.S. Open, according to a source cited by Doug Ferguson of the AP. The match would be played June 7, nine days prior to the Open at Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh. The match would begin at 7:00pm ET and the first two hours "would be televised live by Golf Channel, followed by the 9-11 p.m. slot shown live on CBS." It was "not clear how many holes would be broadcast under the lights." Unlike the Monday night matches involving Tiger Woods in '99 and '00, there "would be a celebrity component with this exhibition." The source said that it "would be 'Team Rory' against 'Team Rickie.'" Quicken Loans became title sponsor of Woods' tournament in '14 and "has a personal endorsement deal with Fowler" (AP, 2/15). In Detroit, Lynn Henning notes the DGC for some time "has been negotiating to hold a celebrity golf event." A DGC source said that no contracts "had yet been approved for golf-course lighting but lighting typically used for night football games at unlighted stadiums could be delivered to DGC." CBS and other network bidders "had floated thoughts of using NFL stars, and even late-night talk-show hosts." It is believed the "list of potential celebs could also involve" Justin Timberlake and Mark Wahlberg (DETROIT NEWS, 2/16).
