The fourth edition of “The Match” is Tuesday night and Charles Barkley is primed and ready for it.
Barkley, whose day job is as an NBA analyst on TNT, is also one of the on-air commentators for the upcoming golf extravaganza at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana.
On Saturday, Barkley was with his regular TNT studio mates Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith after the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals.
As the post-game show was winding down, Barkley was plugging the TNT golf telecast. If you recall, he teamed up with Phil Mickelson in Arizona to win The Match III.
This time around, Mickelson will pair with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and they will take on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will team up with Bryson DeChambeau. Barkley will hold a microphone instead of a golf club and call the action alongside Cheyenne Woods and NFL stalwart Larry Fitzgerald, himself an avid golfer.
“I can’t wait,” Barkley said. “I’ve never met Bryson DeChambeau. I can’t wait to meet him. He’s a stud.”
Then Barkley couldn’t help himself.
“I might caddie for him. He’s got an opening right now, apparently.”
Barkley was, of course, referring to the recent buzzworthy split of DeChambeau and Tim Tucker, who was his caddie for all eight of his PGA Tour victories. Tucker and DeChambeau “mutually agreed to go their separate ways” last Wednesday on the eve of the Rocket Mortage Classic in Detroit.
DeChambeau did not meet with the assembled media after either of his Thursday or Friday rounds. He missed the cut and did not play the weekend.
Earlier in the TNT post-game show, Barkley quipped “Do they have cable in Montana?” The Match tees off at 5 p.m. ET, while coverage of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Barkley’s former team the Phoenix Suns and the Bucks starts at 9 p.m. ET, also on Tuesday.
As for the course, The Reserve at Moonlight Basin is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and is listed at No. 3 on Golfweek’s Best private courses in the state of Montana.
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