Athletics tried it and it failed with Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson running against each other in the Toronto Sky Dome for $1 million. Now golf has tried it and no one is quite sure if it has failed there, too.

Last week Tiger Woods and David Duval were involved in the first shootout considered important enough to command a prime time television slot in America.

In the end Woods won 2 and 1 with fewer than 2,000 people turning out to watch the match, even with reduced offers on tickets.

For his efforts in coming back from two shots down, Woods won $750,000 while Duval became $250,000 richer. Both players gave $125,000 to charity, leaving Woods with a mere $600,000 for the round.