Phil Mickelson will team up with Charles Barkley to face off against Steph Curry and Peyton Manning on Friday at Stone Canyon in Arizona.
The countdown is on for The Match: Champions for Change.
On Friday, when the rest of us are recuperating from our turkey dinners, Phil Mickelson will team up with Charles Barkley to take on Steph Curry and Peyton Manning in the third installment of the Match, which will be played at one of the courses owned by Mickelson Golf Properties, Stone Canyon in Oro Valley, Arizona.
Lefty was involved in the first two Matches. He defeated Tiger Woods in 2018 at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, but when he teamed up with Tom Brady earlier this year, they lost to Woods and Manning, a defeat that Mickelson jokingly questioned.
“We really should’ve won that match,” he said. “There were a couple things down the stretch, I mean, Peyton’s iron shot on 16 to 3 feet. I don’t know if that was legit. I don’t know what happened. I missed something. I couldn’t see the green … and somehow his ball is three feet from the hole when it’s all said and done. I don’t know, I question that.
“So I don’t wanna like, file lawsuits, you know, question the outcome or any of that stuff, but I do have a question on that one.”
Mickelson will likely have to carry plenty of the weight on Friday. Curry is a talented player, and Manning has shown he can swing the stick a little bit himself. As for Barkley, well, we’ve all seen that swing.
“At Stone Canyon, we actually have Chuck tees,” Mickelson said. “They’re a little bit further up.”
Mickelson described Stone Canyon as “pretty penalizing in spots because of the desert but it’s also got a great mixture of fun holes, like drivable par 4s, reachable par 5s.
“Our sixth hole is a spectacular par 3 with waterfalls and such. It’s only about a wedge. But it’s a very demanding shot.”
Mickelson then described part of the strategy that he and Barkley plan to deploy later this week.
“If I can hit the green, and let him putt, that’s our strategy on that. Same thing on the drivable par 4s. We saw what happened in Match II where we were really getting beat up pretty good and then Tom and I, on 11, I drive the green and he rolls the putt in for eagle and it just turns the whole match the other way.”
Stephen Curry and Phil Mickelson trashed Charles Barkley’s swing on Twitter ahead of The Match: Champions for Change.
Charles Barkley can be a polarizing public figure.
Whether you love “The Round Mound of Rebound” for his NBA and subsequent broadcasting career on TNT’s Inside the NBA or love to rag on his outlandish guarantees and even crazier golf swing, everyone has something to say about Barkley.
For Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Phil Mickelson, they found themselves among the latter on Sunday afternoon. The two-time NBA MVP and five-time major champion will tee it up against Barkley and NFL legend Peyton Manning in Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change on Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. ET at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.
Eli Manning, brother of Peyton, and Andre Iguodala, teammate of Steph Curry, will be part of the broadcast team at The Match III on Nov. 27.
Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change is only eight days away and the hype machine for this day-after Thanksgiving exhibition is heating up. Earlier this week, Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry joined the No Laying Up podcast and said, “This one’s going to be dope just because, obviously there’s Phil, there’s me, there’s Peyton, and then way down there is Chuck, so he’s going to embarrass himself for sure. It’s just going to be mad fun to rag on him all day.”
In case you’ve been living under a rock, that would be Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley facing Steph Curry and Peyton Manning in modified alternate shot match play at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.
Turner Sports will once again broadcast the third rendition of The Match next Friday at 3 p.m. ET, with exclusive live event coverage available on TNT and live companion content – highlighted by the “Cart Cam” stream – leading up to and during the event through Bleacher Report and the B/R app.
TNT’s live coverage of Capital One’s The Match will be hosted by Brian Anderson, who will provide play-by-play alongside Trevor Immelman and Andre Iguodala, with on-course reporters Cheyenne Woods and Gary McCord. Special guests are also expected to make appearances, joining the telecast via Cisco Webex.
Additionally, Eli Manning, Peyton’s younger brother and a Super Bowl winning quarterback in his own right, will be part of a pre-game show alongside LPGA star Michelle Wie. Eli will do double duty as an on-course correspondent for the Cart Cam live stream. McCord, who ran into Peyton this week at Whisper Rock Golf Club, had an interesting exchange with Peyton about his brother’s involvement in the broadcast: “He told me his brother Eli was going to have some sort of involvement and I said, ‘Is that good or bad?’ He said, ‘It’s not good for me.’ Those two can go at it. If I was a producer, that’s exactly what I’d have done.”
At its essence, The Match is about raising money to highlight diversity, equality and inclusion at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Through its association with the event, WarnerMedia will make donations to Morehouse College, Howard University, Alabama A&M, Hampton University and Winston-Salem State University, primarily helping to fund golf or sports journalism programs. Additionally, the four golfers have selected Jackson State (Mickelson), Tuskegee (Barkley) and Howard (Curry), along with Grambling State, Southern University at New Orleans and Lane College (Manning), to be the recipients of their donations.
There also will be a series of on-course challenges, aimed at driving additional funding for HBCUs. For each of those holes, there will be a minimum of $100,000 and up to $2,500,000 (on select holes) donated if a golfer is able to make a hole-in-one.
Gary McCord will be on hand for The Match III: Champions for Change. He broke down the players and the course with Adam Schupak.
The producers of Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change deserve a raise for plucking Gary McCord out of retirement to serve as one of the on-course commentators for the upcoming made-for-TV match pitting Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley against Peyton Manning and Steph Curry.
McCord, a journeyman Tour pro turned golf commentator for CBS Sports for 35 years, is the right combination of glib, wacky and flat-out funny to keep the conversation light and the laughs coming. He’s also played enough golf with Sir Charles, known for his ungainly hitch in his swing, over the years to predict that Mickelson will have his work cut out for him.
“This will be the greatest coaching exhibition since Knute Rockne,” McCord said.
Turner Sports will televise this third rendition of The Match, to be held Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. ET at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona, and McCord explained why he was interested in participating.
“This is right up my alley. The format is four guys trying to get it in the hole while bitch-slapping each other verbally. That’s fun,” he said. “Those four guys will do it. If we can get them going, which shouldn’t be hard to do, it will be quite entertaining. You know that Phil will find something and just like a scab he’ll start picking at it until he can get somebody to come back with something. He’s probably the best guy out there with the biggest needle.
“There’s a reason they hired me and it’s not to say, ‘It’s 165 yards and he’s got a 6 iron.’ I’m just going to follow along and try to keep throwing kerosene on the fire.”
McCord said he and Barkley have made plans to go play a practice round next week to figure out how to play Stone Canyon, which is situated at the base of the picturesque Tortolita Mountains, offering views of the Santa Catalina Mountains in all directions.
McCord last played with Barkley, known as “the round mound of rebound” during his NBA days, about a month ago and suggested that Mickelson better be practicing hard.
“Chuck can go practice all he wants but what he’s going to get under the gun, nobody knows. The problem with Chuck is he’s got the yips. It’s performance anxiety. When we play, he makes a full swing and it’s fine. It can get squirrely at times, but it’s OK. It never comes out unless there is some anxiety. I’ve seen him hit balls all day and it’s beautiful. He gets to The Match and he could have the triple hitch. You can’t practice for the yips. God love him, he’s fun to be around, he’s funnier than hell and I wish he could play good golf. If I had a Christmas wish, it would be for Charles Barkley, please, just let him be able to play golf again.”
But McCord said not to count on Barkley to find his game all of a sudden. Manning he knows is quite capable as a golfer and while he’s never seen Curry play, McCord thinks the two of them should have a decided advantage. With the modified alternate-shot format, Mickelson will have to play many of Barkley’s miscues. He predicted Mickelson may spend more time in the desert than Moses.
“Phil could come out of this with something between 20 and 50 jumping cholla attached to him,” McCord said. “He could be a walking cactus by the end of this thing.”
Reason enough to tune in as they raise significant charitable dollars towards a goof cause, and it will be a bonus to hear McCord back in the saddle adding his insights and inimitable style to the broadcast.
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry said he thinks Howard golf can be a ‘North Star’ on the latest No Laying Up podcast episode.
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Golf isn’t just a hobby for Stephen Curry.
The star for the Golden State Warriors started playing when he was 8 or 9 years old. His father, Dell, also played in the NBA, and golf was his summertime hobby. By the age of 11, Stephen was playing full rounds and even played a little high school golf for three years before beginning his journey as one of the best shooters in basketball history.
“It’s one of the things I look forward to most when I’m not on the court,” said the Golden State Warriors star on the latest episode of the No Laying Up podcast.
A year and a half ago, Howard did not have a golf team. One conversation between Otis Ferguson IV and @StephenCurry30 changed that. The story is fantastic and you can hear it from Curry on our latest podcast.
“I think a lot of people get wrapped up in seeing what the product on TV … but the world of golf and business of golf, there’s so many opportunities and ways to create a meaningful career,” said Curry. “It’s just about that awareness and that access and people being able to lean in. So Howard golf is a great start in that direction.”
So, why Howard? Curry wanted to find a creative way, unique to him, to grow the game of golf. He knows talent resides in minority communities, but he also knows they don’t have the resources or access to capitalize on that talent. Curry’s goal is to provide more access to the game, and he thinks golf at Howard can be a “North Star.”
“Any time that you can support an HBCU, there’s a lot of conversations about how impactful those universities are,” explained Curry. “It all kind of checked a lot of boxes in terms of where I could really meaningfully make an impact. And I think the sky’s the limit for what this can truly mean.”
Turner Sports will televise Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change, exclusively on TNT, to be held Friday of Thanksgiving weekend.
Charles Barkley is guaranteeing a victory when he and Phil Mickelson take on Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and NFL legend Peyton Manning in the third rendition of The Match.
Turner Sports will televise Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change, exclusively on TNT, to be held Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. ET at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.
The competition format will be modified alternate-shot match play with five-time major winner Mickelson teaming with Barkley, a Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer, in facing Curry, a three-time NBA Champion and near scratch golfer, and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning, who played a pivotal role in his team winning the last edition of Capital One’s The Match.
“I’m excited to return for the third edition of Capital One’s The Match and get out on the course with these three legendary athletes,” Mickelson said. “While we may need a handicap for Chuck, I’m looking forward to playing with Peyton and Stephen and to help raise money for another important cause. It’s also going to give fans and viewers an up-close look at Stone Canyon Golf Club, a place that I’m extremely proud of and excited to show how special it is.”
Barkley added: “Capital One’s The Match has been a lot of fun to be a part of over the past few years and I’m excited to finally show off my skills on the course. Phil and I got this, I GUARR-AAAN-TEEEE!!!”
Mickelson later expressed similar confidence.
I’m feeling pretty confident after my win that I’ll even take Sir Charles as my partner to take these guys on!
Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change will contribute toward and highlight diversity, equality and inclusion through donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), while raising awareness and spotlighting opportunities for diversity and equality in sports. All four players have previously supported diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout their careers, which has led to them teaming up for this event.
“Last year I had the incredible opportunity to play a small role in the rich history of Howard University through the game of golf,” Curry said. “I truly believe an investment in HBCUs is an investment in our future and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to support these great institutions alongside some of my favorite players…and Chuck.”
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Manning, who teamed with Tiger Woods to defeat Mickelson and Tom Brady in a May exhibition and will have Curry as his teammate this time, praised the charitable component of the exhibition. The Match II in May raised $20 million for COVID-19 relief, and was dubbed “Champions for Charity.”
Live event coverage airing on TNT will once again feature players having open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators. “Cart Cam” will also once again be featured throughout the competition. The event will be closed to the public and tournament organizers are working with public health officials on competition and production logistics to ensure the event follows safety and health protocols.
“Capital One’s The Match has become a franchise featuring some of the best in sports and entertainment, and we’re looking forward to this next iteration and the meaningful awareness it will raise for social change,” said Lenny Daniels, President, Turner Sports. “With Phil, Charles, Stephen and Peyton on the course, there’s sure to be no shortage of must-see moments, in addition to the important causes driving each athlete’s participation.”
Turner Sports sportscaster Charles Barkley at The Match: Tiger vs Phil golf match at Shadow Creek Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Match II was the highest-rated golf event ever to appear on cable TV. It doubled the rating of the Sunday coverage of the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, a Turner representative said. Scheduled on the day after Thanksgiving on a day when many people are off from work and Black Friday shopping may be reduced due to COVID-19 should provide for a large and captive audience.
Stone Canyon Golf Club, owned by Mickelson Golf Properties, is situated at the base of the picturesque Tortolita Mountains, offering views of the Santa Catalina Mountains in all directions. It ranked 116th on the 2020 Golfweek Top 200 Modern Courses.
Bleacher Report will also provide exclusive live content leading up to and during the event on the B/R app.
Instead of Tom Brady, Steph Curry will join Charles Barkley and Peyton Manning at Phil Mickelson’s “The Match II” charity golf event.
Before he suits up for the Golden State Warriors next season, Steph Curry will pull out his golf clubs for a new edition of “The Match.”
According to Scott Soshnick of Sportico, the two-time Most Valuable Player will join Charles Barkley, Peyton Manning and Phil Mickelson at the charity match play golf event.
The celebrity golfers are scheduled to tee up for “The Match III: Champions for Change” on Friday, Nov. 27, per Sportico. Curry and Barkley are slated to replace the duo of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and defending Masters champion Tiger Woods.
In May’s The Match II, the combination of Brady, Manning, Woods, and Mickelson raised $20 million for COVID-19 relief. According to Sportico, HBCU universities are expected to be the beneficiaries of the Match III’s funds.
Per sources who’ve been involved with mapping out November’s event, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are expected to be the beneficiaries of this particular charitable endeavor.
With Curry in the field, Manning will have some competition when defending his Match championship. The five-time NBA All-Star is coming off a top-five finish at the American Century Championship celebrity tournament in Lake Tahoe.
Drew Brees and Sergio Garcia said they want to take on the winners of ‘The Match: Champions for Charity.’
Before Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods faced Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in The Match: Champions for Charity on Sunday, Drew Brees wished the participants good luck on his Instagram page and called dibs on facing the winners.
“Wishing @tombrady and Peyton Manning best of luck in their Semi Final Match today w Phil & Tiger… look forward to watching. @thesergiogarcia and I will take on the winners!” Brees wrote, tagging professional golfer Sergio Garcia, his cousin.
Brees might have been at least partially joking, but Garcia responded “I’m in cuz @drewbrees!” on his own Instagram page.
So will The Match III feature Brees and Garcia going up against Manning and Woods? That remains to be seen, but Brees and Garcia would likely be considered big underdogs if such a match happened after Manning and Woods defeated Mickelson and Brady on Sunday.
