2011 ADT SKILLS CHALLENGE, Featuring Sorenstam's Return To Competition, To Air On NBC Sports Saturday And Sunday

20th Annual Shotmaking Test on NBC Christmas Weekend Also Features Pressel, Johnson, Faldo, O'Meara, Mediate, Price and Kelly

Golf Channel to Re-Air 2011 ADT Skills Challenge in January

Annika Sorenstam returns to competition for the first time in three years when she and LPGA star Morgan Pressel take on the men in the 20th annual ADT Skills Challenge, airing on NBC Christmas weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 24 and 25.

Hosted by Dan Hicks, Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie, the ADT Skills Challenge will air on NBC from 4-6 p.m. in all time zones (check local listings), and is the only golf on network television this holiday weekend. Golf Channel will re-air the ADT Skills Challenge Jan. 16-17 at 9 p.m. ET.

Three teams made up of standout players from the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour will square off against the women and one another in the traditional, situational shotmaking competition with $800,000 in prize money at stake. The men's teams are: Nick Faldo/Rocco Mediate, Zach Johnson/Jerry Kelly and Mark O'Meara/Nick Price.

It is the first time in ADT Skills Challenge history that two women will form a team to compete with male counterparts in the battle for gender pride and prize money. The PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition is one of the longest-running post-FedExCup events in golf and the only one that remains on broadcast network TV.

For the third year, the event will include a culminating, single-hole competition played as a "Reverse Scramble." Contrary to the traditional "Scramble" format, the rules of the "Reverse Scramble" call for the opposing team to select which shot its rival twosome must play, adding a new dimension to the competition.

The format is especially conducive to the ADT Skills Challenge TV production approach, which showcases the personalities of the players, all of whom are equipped with microphones throughout. The event was taped in November at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

The six mainstay skills - Long Drive, Mid-Iron, Bunker Shot, Chip Shot, Trouble Shot and Short Iron -- will be followed by the "Reverse Scramble," representing the seventh and eighth skills. The four teams will be seeded according to prize money won in those first six skills. With 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, the teams will play the 10th hole at The Breakers' Ocean Course. The two surviving teams will then compete in another one-hole "Reverse Scramble" for the weighted sum of $200,000 in prize money, enabling most pairs to remain in contention to the end.
With 90 international tournament wins and over $22 million in prize money, Sorenstam is arguably the most successful individual professional in the history of the sport. It will be the native Swede's first professional competition since the LPGA's 2008 season-ending ADT Championship, a span of three years. She famously teed it up against the men as a worldwide media sensation at the PGA TOUR's Colonial Invitational in 2003.

In 2004, Sorenstam became the first woman to compete in the ADT Skills Challenge, finishing sixth behind winner Faldo and ahead of PGA TOUR standouts Chris Riley and Price. She finished seventh the following year and now returns to join Pressel as the ADT Skills Challenge's first female tandem.
Pressel, currently ranked 13th on the LPGA Tour Money list, has six top 10 finishes this year, her sixth on tour. She has two tour victories, the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship and the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic. Pressel resides in Boca Raton, Fla., just a few miles from The Breakers in Palm Beach.
Johnson, winner of the 2007 Masters, finished second earlier this month behind Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge to notch his best 2011 finish. He owns a total of six PGA TOUR titles. Kelly has three PGA TOUR titles and four 2011 top-10 finishes. He and Johnson are playing in the ADT Skills Challenge for the first time.

Hall of Famer and Golf Channel / CBS Sports analyst Faldo will bring several years of ADT Skills Challenge experience to the 2011 competition. In addition to his 2004 win, Faldo finished in the middle of the pack in 2002 and 2003. The winner of three British Opens and three Masters, he was the top-ranked player in the world for 98 weeks.

Faldo's partner, Mediate, is known best for his performance in the 2008 U.S. Open, when he finished second to Tiger Woods in an 18-hole playoff. In the 2008 ADT Skills Challenge, he finished second alongside partner Matt Achatz in that year's unique competition, which paired PGA TOUR players with their caddies in pursuit of over $800,000 in prize money. He is the winner of five PGA TOUR titles.

The 2010 ADT Skills Champions, O'Meara and Price, are two of the most popular players in professional golf. O'Meara is best remembered for his 1998 season when he won both the British Open and the Masters, rising to number two in the world rankings. Price was most accomplished in the early 90s when he won two PGA Championships and one British Open. Price will be competing in the ADT Skills Challenge for the eleventh time. Both remain top-flight players on The Champions Tour.