The 2020 PGA Tour season isn’t scheduled to resume until June 8 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the upcoming NFL campaign doesn’t get underway until early September, but both, golf and football fans will get to see a pair of their sport’s top legends when Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning square off against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in a COVID-19 benefit event called ‘The Match: Champions for Charity’.
Golf, Football Legends Square Off in COVID-19 Event Called ‘The Match’
While no set date has been announced as of yet, tentative plans call for the event to take place between May 15 and May 24. All proceeds from “The Match” which is scheduled to air on TNT, will benefit coronavirus relief efforts. While the location of the one-day event has not been decided, Woods’ local course, Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., is the front-runner to host the star-studded event.
Not only that, but the stars are now in almost full-fledged trash-talking mode.
“It’s on now,” Phil Mickelson wrote on Twitter.
“There was talks about doing it all along anyway,” Manning told 104.3 The Fan in Denver Wednesday. “And now, to have a chance to have a major fundraising event for COVID-19 relief, almost like a telethon if you will … If that can take place, I’m all in for that.”
Woods and Mickelson previously met in a head-to-head TV special in Las Vegas in November 2018, with ‘Lefty” claiming the $9 million winner-take-all purse.
Now, let’s take a look at the odds to win this fun-filled event, where the trash-talking has already begun!
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning
The now, 44-year-old Tiger Woods put some life back into a PGA Tour that was seriously lacking it by winning the 2019 Masters Championship to claim his fifth green jacket 14 years after winning his last title at Augusta. Better yet, that win spurred Woods on for the remainder of the calendar year as he finished T2 at the MGM Resorts Challenge in October while winning the ZOZO Championships a week later.
Woods kicked off the 2020 calendar year by finishing T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January before recording a 68th place finish that had him last of all players that made the cut at the Genesis Invitational in February. Still, Woods has has some ample time off to rest and recuperate his nagging ailments and he should undoubtedly be the best golfer in this event.
Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady
When it comes to Phil Mickelson, the five-time major winner is now 49-years-old and fading faster than a pair of well-worn blue jeans. ‘Lefty’ has not won a major since 2013 when he won the British Open. In addition to that sobering fact, Mickelson has managed to record only one win in 2019 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and one in 2018 (WGC Mexico Championship). Unfortunately, those are Mickelson’s only two victories since 2013.
Prediction
With Tom Brady and Peyton Manning both being identical 6-8 handicap golfers, you had best believe the outcome of this event will almost assuredly come off the sticks of Woods and Mickelson. While Mickelson beat Woods in a made-for-TV event to claim a $9 million winner-take-all prize, this time around I’m going with Tiger Woods – and oh yeah, Peyton Manning, to prevail.
