It started in 1983 as a fun event when four of the best golfers played for money on each hole. K.J. Choi was the winner last time, walking away with $415,000. The format disappeared after that, leaving fans nostalgic for nearly two decades. Reason? The format became less interesting, television ratings dropped drastically, and LG, the event’s main title sponsor, backed out in 2009. But now, with a new generation of stars, the Skins Game returns to reclaim its place in golf’s holiday calendar.

The post-Thanksgiving weekend is making its long-awaited return after 17 years on November 28, at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This year’s Skins Game unfolds on a course designed by two champions from different eras: Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas.

Thomas began working on this project at the age of 29, the same age that Nicklaus started his design career with Pete Dye on Harbour Town in 1969. Located just 20 miles northwest of Palm Beach International Airport, this is the first private golf community to launch in Palm Beach County in nearly two decades.

The development was conceived by Dominik Senn, a Swiss developer and former alpine ski racer who founded 4sports & Entertainment. His firm transformed 400 acres into a championship golf course featuring 218 luxury homes and a clubhouse. This site is part of the larger 4,752-acre Avenir mixed-use development and is adjacent to a 2,400-acre conservation area. Panther National offers a unique golfing experience in an area already filled with courses.

Nicklaus was surprised by the terrain’s transformation, noting that it was mostly flat and featureless before construction, which is rare for South Florida projects. He remarked that the project faced no environmental restrictions, an unprecedented situation in his career.

“I think if you drive out here and look at the property, you’ll say, ‘Where did you find a piece of property like this in South Florida?’ Obviously, we didn’t find it; we created it,” Nicklaus said.

The design team moved 2.5 million cubic feet of dirt to create an 8,000-yard golf course from the back tees. They built wide fairways, large waste bunkers, and man-made lakes. The course has elevation changes of up to 48 feet. Some unique features include a double green for the 8th and 17th holes, a double fairway at the 14th hole, and an island green at the 15th hole, which measures 87 yards—the largest green ever built by Jack Nicklaus.

Thomas pointed out that the weather will affect how players perform each day. The open layout has only a few palm trees, so it offers little shelter from the winds common in South Florida.

“You could play here two days in a row and hit some significantly different clubs on holes,” Thomas said. He sounded amused when he said, “I couldn’t have imagined doing something like this.”

With the stage set, the focus shifts to who will face off against each other and how they’ll compete.

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Meet the competitors and understand the format of the Skins Game 2025

This season, the Skins Game will have a new generation of golfers. Those four are Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley, and Shane Lowry, who took Justin Thomas’s position after he dropped out. Fleetwood is a European Tour winner and Ryder Cup star. Schauffele is one of the best American players in the world. Bradley has experience as a previous major champion and U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Lowry, the 2019 Open Champion, adds to the excitement of the tournament.

Now, let’s understand the format of the tournament. This year, the Skins Game sticks to the original skin-format idea: each hole has a cash value, and the person who wins the hole outright gets that value. If two players tie on a hole, the value goes to the next hole. The “reverse purse” gimmick is new this time: each player starts with $1 million in their account, which rises or falls based on how many skins they win or lose.

The event will take place on November 28, 2025, the day after Thanksgiving. Amazon Prime Video will stream the Skins Game at 9 a.m. ET. The “reverse purse” creates excitement because each hole affects the prize value. Players’ starting bankrolls also change visibly throughout the day.