This year will go down as the year of the pandemic, but in the golf world, it will also be the year of the exhibition. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods revived their original friendly rivalry this spring to play a second version of “The Match.” They brought in Tom Brady (Mickelson) and Peyton Manning (Woods) as partners.
Next up? Charles Barkley and Stephen Curry. According to an article in Sportico, those two will join the next version of The Match, to be played Friday Nov. 27 (in other words, on Thanksgiving weekend). The major professional tours will be off that week.
Barkley, the retired NBA legend and now TNT basketball analyst, will take Tiger Woods’ place while Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors and is a scratch golfer, is replacing Brady.
Given the substitutions, the quality of golf won’t be quite up to the caliber of the previous two showdowns.
The previous match played in May raised $20 million for COVID-1 relief. It was dubbed “Champions for Charity.”
Sportico reports that the third edition will be named “Champions for Change.” The beneficiary of the funds raised has not been announced and neither has the venue, though the outlet did report that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are expected to be the beneficiaries of the upcoming charity match.
