Mother Nature didn’t seem to care that it was Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.
No, she didn’t hold back Sunday afternoon as the east coast of Florida was pelted with rain, making for one incredibly interesting, exciting match between two of golf’s biggest names and two of pro football’s finest-ever.
Through the showers, squalls and drizzles at the well-manicured Medalist Golf Club, the teams pressed on — Woods and Manning against Mickelson and Brady, no holds (or bad golf shots) barred.
This one totally lived up to the hype and anticipation and, in the process, raised a whopping $20 million for COVID-19 relief. But the money didn’t stop there — golf experiences with Woods and Mickelson were auctioned off during the action. Someone forked over $260,000 to hang with Eldrick down in the Bahamas at the 2020 Hero Challenge while it took $190,000 to play 18 with Phil Mickelson later this year.
But that was loose changed compared to money earned by this high-profile foursome.
After about a 30-minute delay, it was finally ball-in-the-air around 3:48 p.m. With Manning and Brady showing some early jitters, it was up to Tiger and Phil to steady the show. All-square with pars on the first two holes in the best-ball front-nine action. First blood came on the par three third where Woods won the long drive between the pros reached the par five in two and his routine birdie put his team one-up. Took a hour to play the first three holes. Brady couldn’t find the golf course with a road map. His tee-shots would have had to been better to reach the “wild” category. He didn’t have drive in the bag, only a three-wood and that would make for a long day on a wet course.
Woods was rock-steady early, Mickelson wild, looking a bit nervous. Lefty had his two black rain gloves on. Wise guy Charles Barkley was on site, working the broadcast for Turner Sports, perfectly playing the role of trash-talk instigator. “Fifty thousand out of my pocket (to charity) if Brady hits it on the green,” he spouted at the new Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback. Of course Brady then went wide right into the scrub area on the first par three of the day and Barkely howled: “I should have said keep it on the planet.”
At that 184-yard par three fourth, once again Brady was wide right, Mickelson 20 feet, Manning 15 and Tiger a snuggly eight feet, looking to go two-up. Mickelson missed then Manning ran his in to put his team two-up. The teams halved the one-club hole with bogeys. Tiger’s par putt with a four-iron lipped out.
The Woods-Manning duo increased the lead to three-up when Manning made par with a stroke (four for three) at the par four sixth and suddenly this one was looking like a rout. Three-up through six. Tiger was a couple under on his ball, Mickelson two-over, Manning four-over and Brady a whopping 13-over, looking every bit like a 20-handicapper with Barkley chirping at him constantly.
But the Barkley silencer came at the par five seventh and got Brady going. Brady found himself about 100 yards short of the green in three on the par five. He needed something good to happen as Brooks Koepka twittered in that he’d throw $100,000 in the charity pot if Brady could just manage a par on the front nine. Tom did better than that. His fourth landed just past the flag-stick, spun back and found its way into the hole for a natural birdie.
“Take a suck of that, Chuck. Shut your mouth, Chuck,” Brady chided at Barkley. “Take a load of that medicine. Get your butt out here!” Brady said it was exactly what he needed.
No win, however, Woods nearly holed his eagle putt, it lipped out and his team would head to the back-nine with a hefty lead. Woods shot 34, birdies at seven and eight got Phil back to even par. Manning shot a respectable 40 and Brady’s 51 strokes were tough to watch with the exception of the wedge-heard-round-The-Medalist.
A Back Nine Comeback from Mickelson-Brady:
The modified alternate shot format on the back nine was just what Phil and Tom needed along with some better play from Brady.
After pars at the 10th, Brady found the fairway at the 338-yard 11th, freeing up Mickelson and Lefty responded by driving the green, his ball just 25 feet from the hole. Brady, with great coaching from his partner, slid that eagle putt in the cup, the lead was cut to two-up and suddenly things got interesting. At the par three 12th, Mickelson got his partner inside eight feet. Team Wood-Manning missed from 12-feet and with a chance to trim the lead to one-up, Brady missed.
At the 630-yard 13th, it looked like the Wood-Manning lead would go to one-up. With some nervous play out of the amateurs, Manning had an eight-footer for par, Phil was staring down one from six-feet. Manning missed leaving the door wide open for Mickelson. Lefty missed and that would prove the biggest miss of the day because at the next hole, a short 318-yarder of a par four, Manning, who played so well on the first nine, missed a three-footer and suddenly it was a ball game — his team was just one-up with four to play.
But that’s as close as it go. Pars at 15. Manning came to life, stuck his tee ball inside two-feet at the 183-yard 16th and they tied with birdies as only Woods failed to hit it close.
Woods put Phil and Tom out of their misery when he snuggled a 40-footer within a foot at the 18th to close it out.
Great match, tough conditions. Big money, lots of banter, better production — yes, this one was a different animal from the foursome last week at Seminole.
“It’s great, the fact that we all came together and were able to raise $20 million for those that have been so seriously affected. This is our arena. This is what we do. We couldn’t imagine going out onto the field and doing what they (Brady-Manning) do.”
At the end of the day, and they beat darkness, barely, it was a blast, despite the rain, despite some ugly shots.
Phil and Tiger, Part II, well, it was great to have them back.
Editor’s Note: Today is Memorial Day and we’re still battling the Corona Virus pandemic. Please take a moment to pause and reflect on all those who have given “Their Last Full Measure Of Devotion.” Pause and remember all those who have fallen on battlefields around the world in service to our country, those brave men and women who answered the call, paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy the freedoms our nation provides.
12 Comments
baxter cepeda
It’s a cliche but this thing had a little bit of everything. Needling, Hole outs, driving it on greens, eagles, sticking it to 2 feet, Weather, all coming down to the last hole for BIG charity dollars.
The whole Brady thing stole the show. To go from being that guy everyone wants a piece of to the guy with the hole out was mind blowing.
The unanswered question of this whole thing is why no driver in the bag for Brady? We know he can afford one. We also know his partner Lefty has gone without a driver, but Phil’s 2 drivers strategy would have been better for Brady; who should have kept his fairway woods out of the bag instead of driver.
Manning was solid with that steady draw and sound putting. Phil was awesome starting slow but provided the side side entertainment throughout. He was awesome
baxter cepeda
And then there’s tiger; star amongst stars. The only true international superstar of the fore some looked healthy, relaxed and in mid season form. All good things.
Seminole’s production was pretty great imo, especially compared to all the Zoom TV lately, but the folks with the cameras at Medalist really stepped up in that terrible weather to provide the audience a great show.
The only loser was the rain failing to dampen the show.
Tom Edrington
I think the rain added some drama; We saw how well the pros handled it without caddies; I was digging Tiger’s “Mike Tomlinson” beard….
Tom Edrington
The entire day was enjoyable; At first I thought Barkley was a waste of space; As it turned out, he was the instigator of some real good trash-talking; Maybe Brady is one of those guys who just hasn’t found confidence in using a driver…..he was at a disadvantage on that course…..but he did his job on the back nine, got that driving iron in play and let Phil hit the shots into the greens; BIG missed putts on the back nine by both Phil, Tom and one three footer by Manning, who didn’t play very well on the final nine except for the stuffed shot on the par three and that clutch iron onto the green of the final hole to let “Mr. Eldrick” snuggle the 40-footer for the win.
baxter cepeda
There’s a reason tnt pays Barkley 1.5$ million per, the Auburn Tigers Greeeat !
We should also mention Justin Thomas who came out not shy with his broadcasting, smack talking everything from Phil’s driving to the Falcons. He also brought depth picking Lefty’s Brain on that sublime chip and providing inside info on home games with Tiger. Tiger gets a big ‘meow’ anytime he leaves putts short. JT has a future in broadcasting… JT has a lot of futures really.
Chuck on the other hand is pondering retirement; relinquishing his sports commentating crown. Like Johnny Miller we won’t really miss Chuck until he is done.
Tom Edrington
Yes, J.T. was really fun, but he’s a LONG, LONG way from that broadcasting stuff, too talented and has a long golf career in front of him…
RM
I was skeptical about the celeb/pro format, and remain so, generally. But this one was a winner. Everyone was playing to win, but still keeping some good fellowship. Fascinating insight to me to hear Phil read shots for Brady.
The other thing that strikes me is the capacity of these pro athletes at the top of their sport being able to become so proficient at golf in their spare time. Sure, many if not most golfers downplay whatever level they play to (before the match Brady described his own game as being terrible, or something like that).
However, we also know that someone who is a single digit handicapper (Manning at 5 and Brady at 8, I believe) is a pretty damn good golfer, who typically has devoted long days, weeks, and years to get there. . Sure, I know they have the best coaching, etc. available and some time in off seasons, but they are both busy people with families, business interests, media, stuff, and staying in shape for their own sport that makes demands on their time.
I have to think some of it is simply the difference between a professional athlete and most normal folks. I played once with a former pro baseball player who played golf pretty casually and was amazed by the proficiency of his game as compared to how relatively limited time he spent on golf.
Tom Edrington
I find it hard to believe Brady is an eight after he shot 51 on the front nine; His weak left-hand grip on the club is a fatal flaw and that’s why he lost countless shots to the right; So if he’s getting instruction, they need to fix his grip; Manning’s retired, he’s expected to play well, played fine on front, didn’t play that well on back with the exception of two great shots over the last three holes — tee shot into 16 then the iron shot into 18 that put the putter in Tiger’s hands — game over.
baxter cepeda
I was thinking the same as Tom about Brady’s 8.
#8? #eyeroll.
Bradys Left hand grip and aim right; as if to bomb draws, which never came. Eventually he aimed more left.
The compare-contrast between Brady and Manning was fascinating.
Brady’s amazing leadership is from being a great follower/student and teammate. He listened to Phil just like he listened to Bill; the best he could.
Manning like Brady is a a great teammate, but also an especially smart man. Peyton didn’t need tiger giving him a lesson on every putt just like he never needed a Belichik because he was Belichik Jr; Or one of the smartest offensive coordinators in the game… while still under center.
Brady is a smart cat, don’t get me wrong, and he can slap it around decent considering 6 chips, but Mannings intellect is why he golfs so well despite his own busy life. Imo. Peytons putting alone is no joke.
Tom Edrington
Brady made nine there and yes, he struggled mightily with the exception of that one wedge shot; Even Koepka offered another $100k if Brady could par either eight or nine but that was a safe bet for BK; Yes, it was fun to see the two QBS in the mix.
Golfnutt
The banter among the players was the best ever because the coverage was focused just on these 4 players plus Barkley. They stuck with them and we got to hear everything. Very entertaining. However, TBS left early to go to a movie and we did not get to see the last two holes. Bummer. Heidi anyone?
Tom Edrington
TNT was fine…..just a matter of switching channels…