After five painful hours, about 200 commercials and a lot of ugly shots, Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers got the best of Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady Tuesday evening in this fourth version of The Match.
It was no surprise that DeChambeau prevailed, the pace of play was right in his wheelhouse. On the par three 15th, DeChambeau hit his tee shot within 12-feet of the hole and Rodgers calmly holed the birdie putt for a 3-and-2 victory at scenic Moonlight Basin in the Montana mountains.
The views were spectacular and this one started off with DeChambeau chipping in at the first hole for birdie to give him and Rodgers a fast one-up lead. It went back and forth after that and by the turn, it was all even.
But the DeChambeau-Rodgers team pulled away with three straight birdies to start the final nine and they never looked back.
Truth be known, Rodgers far outplayed Brady and came to DeChambeau’s rescue time and again as Bryson was all over the place with his tee shots, playing Army golf — missing left and right at times.
Best part of the made-for-television event was the banter from Phil Mickelson on the course and Charles Barkley in the broadcast location.
Barkley set the table for the scenery on the picturesque Jack Nicklaus design. “This Montana place — it is stunning,” Barkley said of The Reserve at Moonlight Bay.
Along the way, there were shots of mountain goats, bear and moose.
The golf itself featured good shots and a lot of bad. What proved costly for the Mickelson-Brady team was a dry stretch after their birdie at the seventh. They didn’t make another until the 15th hole when Mickelson reached the green in two while Bryson and Aaron struggled, made bogey and conceded the hole.
With their lead down to two holes, DeChambeau hit the best tee shot of the foursome at 16 and Rodger’s putter did the rest, closing things out.
Mickelson played with his left hand taped but never gave a clear explanation as to why. “I am soft. I tape it up and act tough — which I’m not,” was all he said when questioned about it by Barkley. Later, Staminapro, the company that manufactures therapeutic recovery patches, proudly boasted that Mickelson was wearing one of their custom products on that right hand of his.
Rodgers was just as elusive on his future as the starting quarterback in Green Bay, where he created a ton of off-season drama with trade demands.
As for Brady, he returns to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that returns all 22 starters from the Super Bowl team.
Mickelson and DeChambeau will make their way to the west coast of England for next week’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s.
Dylan Fritelli Defends At John Deere Classic:
With the Open Championship a week away, the John Deere Classic doesn’t have the strongest of fields but this event is widely popular in the Quad-Cities area and Dylan Fritelli will defend his title at the TPC Deere Run starting Thursday.
There was no 2020 event, it was wiped out by COVID but it will have familiar faces in the field.
Steve Stricker won this event three straight years starting in 2009 and is skipping the Senior U.S. Open to support this event.
Zach Johnson is making his 19th appearance and proved a player can go from this event straight to Europe and win the Open Championship.
Daniel Berger is one of the pre-tournament favorites. Last week’s winner at the Rocket Mortgage, Cam Davis, is in the field as is Troy Merritt, who lost to Davis on the fifth playoff hole last Sunday at Detroit Country Club.
