QBs-Turned-Golfers Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady Bring 82 Years to The Match
The latest incarnation of the celebrity fundraising golf event called The Match will have a Bay Area flavor to it.
Not are only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady the elder statesmen in the June 1 duel in a match-play event against rival NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, they both have connections here.
Rodgers, of course, played at Cal while Brady grew up in San Mateo.
The event, in its sixth year, has raised nearly $33 million for various charities and donated nearly 17 million meals to Feeding America, according to Turner Sports. Sponsored by Capital One, The Match will be played at Wynn Las Vegas and aired on TNT.
This will be the first time the event has not included a PGA tour golfer. Brady and Rodgers both played last year, but as opponents. Rodgers and Bryson DeChambeau teamed to beat Brady and Phil Mickelson 3 and 2 when Rodgers clinched the victory by making a 12-foot putt on the 16th hole.
Now, as a teammates, Rodgers and Brady have a significant experience advantage.
Certainly that’s the case on the football field. Rodgers, 38, the two-time reigning NFL MVP, and Brady, 44, both considered stepping away from the game after last season. Brady retired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers then changed his mind. Rodgers signed a three-year deal with $150 million to remain with the Green Bay Packers.
According to ESPN, Rodgers is listed as a 4.6 handicap by the Wisconsin State Golf Association. Brady was reportedly an 8.1 handicap before last year's match. Rodgers also regularly plays in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe.
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion but 0-2 in this event, is seeking a different outcome
Allen, the 25-year-old star of the Buffalo Bills, played in the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am in February as a 9.0 handicap. Kansas City Chiefs’ star Mahomes is a 7.7 handicap, according to golf.com.
Mahomes, 26, jokingly suggested Rodgers and Brady will be a bit long in the tooth to compete.
"The reason we're going to win is that we're going to be able to play the course differently than old Tom and old Aaron over there," Mahomes said.
"They might get us on a couple of par 3s and stuff like that but whenever we can really open it up and use the drivers . . . it's going to be nice to be able to use our little wedges like they use their 6-irons.’’
The original 2018 event pitted Woods and Mickelson against one another in a one-on-one math that raised $9 million.
Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Michael Madrid, USA Today
https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/spring-has-wilcox-excited