Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady Win In An Incarnation of 'The Match' That Finally Worked
What began six years ago as the Tiger & Phil Show featured neither Woods nor Mickelson in its latest incarnation: four active NFL quarterbacks, all boasting single-digit handicaps and unparalleled BMOC status in a world where jocks clearly rock. That’s right. No pro golfers, much less an aging icon or two. Amateur hour on a slow boat to Bogeyville, one might easily presume.
If Wednesday evening’s version of "The Match" was built for the masses, the previous five didn’t exactly cater to a refined audience. The inaugural Woods-Mickelson bout in November 2018 made for insipid TV, boring and almost unwatchable. Six months later, the inclusion of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in a foursomes format produced the most entertaining edition of the series, and from that go-figure moment onward, televising network TNT has leaned on sports notables (Charles Barkley, Steph Curry) to infuse its product with a shameless giggle-golf identity.
Brady and Aaron Rodgers vs. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen? Who needs a couple of dudes who can really play? “There’s less pressure than playing with a pro,” said Barkley, who is far more adept with a microphone than a 7-iron. “You ain’t worried about letting down your partner.”
A shortage of frazzled nerves was just one reason "The Match" worked this time. Rodgers’ 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole gave the old fellas a 1-up victory, punctuating a night that was equal parts compelling and comical.
The atmosphere was loose and lively throughout. Each of the first three holes were won with birdies, the first two by Brady/Rodgers, convincing Mahomes to crack open a beer earlier than he’d planned. When he almost drove the par-4 3rd and rolled his eagle attempt to within a foot of the pin, then two-putted the 5th for another birdie to square the match, the purists must have been cringing.
Mahomes’ adult beverage was actually a can of whoop-ass.
Perhaps because Brady and Rodgers had combined for three previous appearances in the event, it granted them a license to needle, heckle and apply other assorted noogies to their younger opponents. Mahomes and Allen offered little resistance to the jabs, as if experience does matter. Of particular note was Brady’s poking fun at Allen’s offseason midsection after catching an iron shot fat — a barb that came closer to landing below the belt than any other.
When the seven-time Super Bowl champion had gotten lost on the cart ride to the first tee, which briefly held up the start play, Rodgers felt obliged to punk his own teammate: “He’s on his third outfit change of the day.” Without such jocular hijinks, these affairs become little more than a beauty contest among mutts. Rodgers has always projected himself as something of a smart aleck, but Brady? The NFL’s King of the Comatose Quote? Has he been raiding Mahomes’ cooler?
Despite the highly competent golf in the early stages, the action turned into a fore-fest without warning, so to speak, during the middle third of the 12-hole bout. Allen lost more balls in that stretch than some tour pros lose in six months. Mahomes carried his partner without a hitch, holing a par save to leave the match tied, then birdieing the 8th on his own ball to give the young guys their first lead.
After preserving that edge with another par save from five feet at the 9th, Mahomes staked his claim as the man of the match. He drives the ball outrageous distances, with or without any lessons from Coors Light, and putts the ball like a guy who hasn’t a care on earth. Unlike Brooks Koepka’s blowout victory over Bryson DeChambeau last November, which was staged primarily because of what looked, sounded and smelled like a manufactured feud, this was good clean fun without pretense.
Mickelson had little more than money in mind when he came up with the idea of taking on Woods in the summer of 2018. The concept was panned from the outset — two zillionaires with trophy cases the size of a three-car garage, don’t we see these guys play 15 times a year? The shoddy play and ridiculous pace made the project a bust, but TNT didn’t flinch. The competitive recipe was altered to make the series friendlier to the mainstream, and the all-QB battle proved those changes are for the better.
Yes, it’s about as campy as televised golf can get, full of goofy behavior and the same customized DraftKings ad, shown over and over and over, but it’s something worth watching when four famous athletes compete in a sport at which they are good but not great. Something revealing. And when "The Match" comes down to the final hole with the score tied, with four men highly accustomed to such pressure situations in their native environment now swimming in a different pool, everybody walks away happy. Not just Brady and Rodgers.
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