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We’re now two days removed from The Match, which saw Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning hold off Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady for a 1-up win at Medalist GC in an event that was absolutely perfect for sports fans who have been craving more live sports in our lives.
The event had a little bit of everything. We saw Brady absolutely stink up the place before shutting everyone up with an incredible hole-out from the fairway for birdie with a shot that any pro golfer would be thrilled to pull off.
We saw Peyton Manning, who told some great stories during the round, start off by blowing his first shot into the woods and taking an unplayable right off the bat and then almost hitting a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole. Golf is goofy like that.
We saw Mickelson being Mickelson by perfectly breaking down a chip shot and then almost sinking the chip shot by hitting it exactly the way he said he would, which was awesome. And we also heard a lot from Phil throughout the round as he had a lot of fun chirping around the course all afternoon.
But what was lost in all that television gold was something else – Tiger Woods sure looked like Tiger Woods again, which is awesome for golf fans as we await the 2020 PGA Tour season to get under way again in a few weeks.
The last time we had heard from Tiger was back in March when he pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then The Players’ Championship, two big events that he has won many times in the past and two events he normally plays to get ready for the Masters. Suddenly again it seemed like the success he had last season wore him down physically and concerns about his fuzed back ramped up.
When sports were still going on and the coronavirus hadn’t yet hit as seriously as it has in the U.S. and around the world, golf fans were concerned that Tiger wouldn’t be playing in an event until the Masters, which of course was later postponed until November due to the coronavirus. Many wondered if all he did last season and all the traveling he did while doing it had taken its toll on the greatest to ever have played the game.
Then last Sunday he went out in this fun event and put on an absolute clinic. He seemingly didn’t hit a bad shot all day and, more importantly, he hit a ton of great shots while looking in full control of every aspect of his game. It was vintage Tiger all afternoon.
For a golf nut like me, it was marvelous to see.
Now I know this was only one day and it was only an exhibition and it was played on his home course, but seeing Tiger be able to play and play really well in miserable conditions that can’t be ideal for a fuzed back gave me a lot of good feelings of what we can expect to see from Tiger when he’s back out there (hopefully) this summer and fall playing for major championships.
It sure seems like Tiger is going to be ready to put on more shows for us but this time on the biggest stages golf has to offer, not just some fun match that featured two quarterbacks who often seemed way out of their element.
Tiger Woods is ready to be Tiger Woods again. And we’re all gonna be better for it.
Monday’s biggest winner: Andre Drummond.
On Monday we learned of a great story about the Cleveland Cavaliers big man as he gave a huge tip to a server while out for brunch on Sunday. How big? Well, Drummond’s bill was $164 and he gave a tip of $1,000. The server couldn’t believe it and asked Drummond to make sure he meant to tip that much. He did mean to do just that and the server couldn’t have been more thankful, especially during these tough financial times for everyone.
Quick hits: Barkley’s best golf calls… Rams player burns 10,000 calories in one day… Nationals reveal quirky World Series rings… And more!
– My pal Charles Curtis broke down the five best Charles Barkley moments from Sunday’s broadcast of The Match.
– Rams safety Taylor Rapp burned off 10,000 calories in ONE DAY over the weekend thanks to a workout that looked to be insanely tiring and impossible.
– The Nationals revealed their World Series rings and their math about all the jewels sure was a little weird.
– Patrick Ewing’s son gave an encouraging update on the NBA legend’s bout with coronavirus.
– Cam Newton’s former teammate says Panthers mismanaged his injuries for years.
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