Highlights: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen vs. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers in The Match
After previous iterations brought drama, comedy and all sorts of good and bad golf shots, Capital One's The Match certainly didn't disappoint this year.
The battle of the quarterbacks saw Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes team up with Josh Allen to square off against the old-age signal-callers, and the duo of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers proved to be a worthy challenge. In the end, it was Brady and Rodgers who came out on top over the young guns with a clutch performance on the final hole.
Oct 27, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) talks with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) after the game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
With 2022's The Match in the books, let's take a look at some top highlights featuring the Chiefs' superstar quarterback.
Mahomes takes a friendly shot at Allen
Despite their pairing on Wednesday evening, the 2021-22 AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs between Mahomes and Allen's teams wasn't all that long ago. In that contest, the Chiefs made a historic 13-second comeback at the end of regulation to force overtime. They ultimately advanced to the AFC Championship Game the following week, and the Buffalo Bills didn't get a chance to take the field on offense. Mahomes didn't let his partner forget it.
Allen was reminded of the Divisional Round loss in the festivities leading up to the tee-off of The Match. Mahomes is no stranger to getting the short end of the stick on a coin toss, however, as Kansas City lost to Brady and the New England Patriots back in the 2018 season's AFC Championship Game on the heels of that same development. The two can share that same pain, although Allen was the butt of the joke this time around.
Mahomes crushes his first tee shot
While it took the duo of Mahomes and Allen a little while to get off the snide, Mahomes made it perfectly clear from the jump that he was going to swing hard and leave it all out on the course. He crushed a beauty of an opening tee shot, showing off his raw athleticism and ability to convert torque into distance.
Mahomes's tee shot not only found the fairway on hole No. 1, but it also got a club twirl out of him on his very first shot of the day. Brady and Rodgers may have won the hole, but the Chiefs' stud field general gave it his all right out of the gate.
He also crushes a Coors Light (or multiple)
Relatively early in The Match, Mahomes began relying on his "swing juice" to give him a competitive advantage. Over the course of the round, he added a few more tallies to his total and began to hit some shots with pinpoint accuracy thereafter. It's unfair to assume that the positive correlation between beer and proficiency was strong, but perhaps Mahomes's Secret Stuff wasn't that bad after all.
Back-to-back challenge winner helps feed children
Patrick Mahomes putts from the edge of the green during the ACC Golf Tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe on Friday, July 10, 2020.
On holes Nos. 7 and 8, The Match featured the Capital One Venture X Long Drive and WheelsUp Closest to the Hole competitions. Both times, Mahomes was the winner.
On No. 7, Mahomes cranked a drive down the right side of the fairway and ended up totaling a whopping 318 yards on it. One hole later, he got closest to the hole with a beautiful shot onto the green. In the process, a combined $500,000 ($400,000 and $100,000 on No. 7 and No. 8) in donations were made in Mahomes's name due to his prowess on those two holes. That isn't a bad day at the office for someone who golfs merely for leisure.
