A very basic golf competition, Tom Watson explains.
Noting that the Skins Game is a pro version of the betting format common among weekend golfers, Watson added: "This raises it to the ultimate level, with four top players competing for a lot of money."A lot of money: $540,000.
Watson, who was there for the beginning of the Skins in 1983, tees it up again Saturday and Sunday, competing with Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and Peter Jacobsen at Bighorn Golf Club.
Watson, now 46, came away from that first Skins game with just $10,000. His rivals then were Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Watson returned for the next two Skins Games and won a total of $220,000.
Last year, Watson rolled in a 20-foot putt on the first playoff hole to edge Couples for the $160,000 at stake then. Watson finished the 18-hole event with $210,000 to end Payne Stewart's three-year reign.
Watson, a winner of 32 career titles, including eight majors, thinks highly of the four-man field for the 13th renewal of the Skins Game.
"That's quite a lineup of players," he said. "Freddie always seems to play well in year-ending events. Corey, well, we just have to keep that 4-wood out of his hands."
As the tournament progresses, the money grows and the tension along with it. The first six holes are worth $20,000 each, the next six $30,000, and the last six $40,000.
"In the Skins Game, you start out laughing and giggling, but if you don't get any skins, it gets a lot tougher," Couples said. "It will be intense at certain times, but there still will be a lot to laugh about."
Pavin, who won this year's U.S. Open, will be making his Skins Game debut.
In Melbourne, Australia, Australia's Peter McWhinney, winless in 15 years on the Australian PGA Tour, shot a 2-under-par 70 today to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Australian Open.
With Australian star Greg Norman and British Open champion John Daly moving into contention, McWhinney topped the crowded leader board with a 6-under 138 total on the tree-lined Kingston Heath course.