‘The Match II’ report card: Tiger’s putter keeps him from an A; Brady rebounded

As well-intentioned as the TaylorMade Driving Relief event was last weekend, it left much to be desired in terms of entertainment. For a sports-starved nation hoping to catch a little trash talk and a tiny bit of relief from the monotony of …

Reporter Justin Thomas talks to on-course reporter Amanda Balionis during a practice round for The Match: Champions For Charity at Medalist Golf Club on May 23, 2020 in Hobe Sound, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for The Match)

TBS/TNT: A-

Last week, we insisted the best thing broadcast executives could do was to keep the players’ mics open and tell their announcers and guests to stay out of the way. We’d like to stick an addendum on that — unless you have Charles Barkley in the booth.

Barkley came through as large, no pun intended, as the legendary athletes he was chatting with and Brady’s calling out Barkley after holing on out on No. 7 was one of the day’s best moments. We’d give Turner Sports a straight A, although side chats with A-Rod and Russell Wilson did little but distract us from the amazing on-course chatter.

And we’d be remis if we didn’t mention Justin Thomas’ debut. Remember how everyone was sure that Tony Romo would be perfect in a TV booth and then he actually was? The sentiment is the same for JT, who was smooth, funny and another bright spot.