World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson recently made a $500,000 donation to Jackson State University, and more could be coming in a televised challenge Friday.
Mickelson will be playing in the Turner Sports presents Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change, which will broadcast Friday at 2 p.m. on TNT. This challenge will feature Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, three-time NBA champion Steph Curry and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.
The event will include a series of on-course challenges to bring additional funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Each hole has a minimum of $100,00 and will go up to $2,500,000, on select holes, if a golfer sinks a hole-in-one.
Mickelson selected Jackson State as his HBCU to support during the competition. Barkley will represent Tuskegee and Curry has chosen Howard. Manning chose the trio of Grambling State, Southern University at New Orleans and Lane College.
Final donation amounts for schools will be announced the following Monday.
The 44-time PGA Tour winner went on Barstool Sports’ “21st and Prime,” co-hosted by new JSU football coach Deion Sanders, recently to discuss his donation. The episode published Monday morning.
Jackson State president Thomas Hudson tweeted out his gratitude after the announcement of Mickelson’s donation.
Thank you @PhilMickelson for your significant investment in JSU! https://t.co/OsPyvzrScz
— Thomas Hudson, J.D. (@JSUPrez) November 24, 2020
“Thank you @PhilMickelson for your significant investment in JSU!” Hudson tweeted.
Jackson State athletic director Ashley Robinson also reacted by posting “Go Tigers!” on social media.
Go Tigers ! https://t.co/hkVVNB9k9z
— Ashley Robinson (@JacksonStateAD) November 23, 2020
The event’s sponsor, Capitol One, will make donations to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Both organizations support and fund scholarships and programs for public and private HBCUs.
