The Medalist in Hobe Sound, Florida, is home to many of the world’s top golfers.
It also may be home for next month’s charity golf match between Tiger Woods-Peyton Manning vs. Phil Mickelson-Tom Brady.
A Medalist member confirmed Friday the Hobe Sound-based course has been approached by event organizers about hosting the event, probably on Memorial Day weekend (May 24). Turner Sports will air “The Match: Champions for Charity” on TNT.
The Medalist makes sense. Woods, a Jupiter Island resident, is among the many superstars who are members at the club co-founded by Greg Norman in 1991. Brady recently joined nearby Seminole Golf Club and Mickelson is moving to Jupiter Island this year.
Plus, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would support the event being held as the state starts its long recovery from the coronavirus pandemic
The sticking point may be money. The Medalist, unlike most private courses, doesn’t need the exposure; nor are its members willing to pay the TV rights to host The Match.
The member said the club has been approached to gauge interest and availability.
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Seminole would have been another option – it hosts next year’s Walker Cup between amateur teams from the U.S. and Great Britain-Ireland – but the Donald Ross-designed course in Juno Beach closed early three weeks ago because of COVID-19.
Event organizers Excel Sports Management and Lagardere Universal, which represent Woods and Mickelson, respectively, are working with state and local government and health officials to ensure the match follows safety and health protocols. DeSantis has allowed Florida’s golf courses to remain open during the pandemic and he recently also allowed WWE to start taping its wrestling shows near Orlando that are shown throughout the country.
“I’d like to see Woods and Mickelson do the golf because that’s social distance,” DeSantis said last week. “You wouldn’t have a gallery there. To put that on TV, I think people have been starved for content.”
And professional athletes are starved for competition. Woods hasn’t played since the final round of the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16. Woods discussed the match Thursday during a Golf Digest video.
“There has been a little bit of trash talk already, a little bit of banter back and forth,” Woods said. “Whether it’s, ‘I might need extra caddies to carry my Super Bowls,’ because [Brady] has more Super Bowls than my partner [Manning]. Or, ‘I’ve got more majors than Phil, so I’m gonna have to have a truck come up to the first tee and U-Haul it out.’
“We’ve had banter back and forth, and it’s been fantastic. We like to give out the needle, and to give out the needle you gotta be able to take it. It’s been fun, and it’ll be like that when we play, when we compete. There will be banter back and forth, but it won’t be as rough as what we have in our text exchange.”
Unlike the match Woods and Mickelson played in two years ago, which featured a $9 million winner-take-all purse, all proceeds from next month’s event will benefit various charities helping those impacted by the pandemic.
The event two years ago was supposed to be a pay-for-pay event, but after technical issues, the fee was waived. There would be no fee for this match, which would be the first “live” sports event in the U.S. in more than six weeks.
“It’s on now,” Mickelson tweeted this week. “After feeling the sting of defeat the first time around, looks like Tiger Woods is bringing a ringer to the match (Manning). I’m bringing a GOAT (Brady). Ready to hit bombs?”
After feeling the sting of defeat the first time around, Looks like @TigerWoods is bringing a ringer to The Match (#PeytonManning).
I’m bringing a 🐐 @TomBrady – Ready to hit 💣’s? https://t.co/ilaqS05QQs
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) April 22, 2020
The foursome has combined to win 23 majors, 126 PGA Tour events, eight Super Bowls and eight NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
The PGA Tour has announced plans to resume holding tournaments – without fans – on June 11 in Texas. The Tour, which stopped holding events March 12 after the first round of The Players, has yet to sign off on the Match, as required, but that’s not expected to be an issue.
The issue, as far as Medalist is concerned, is whether organizers want a TV rights fee from the host course. That’s not likely to happen.