Over 5.8 million people tuned in this past Sunday to watch The Match: Champions for Charity, a two-team golf tournament featuring Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning versus Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.
Despite some inclement weather and some pedestrian play by Brady on the front nine, the match itself was pretty entertaining as the duo of Woods and Manning jumped out to a three-hole lead, only to be caught by Mickelson and Brady on the back nine.
Woods and Manning won the
contest by one hole, but more than the trophy they received, the entirety of
the televised competition raised over $20 million for COVID-19 relief.
Needless to say, sports fans
are yearning for any kind of televised live sports during the coronavirus
pandemic, but regardless, The Match II,
was a huge success.
Looking to piggyback off the
momentum, Mickelson recently hinted at the idea of a third installment of The Match series, this time with two MVP
basketball players in Michael Jordan and Steph Curry.
“I think you could showcase guys like Steph Curry and Michael Jordan or Tony Romo and Patrick Mahomes, who are all good golfers, elite talents and have great personalities,” Mickelson told Arash Markazi of the the LA Times.
“Those personalities are
going to come out with this event. Or you could have someone who loves the game
and is competitive but is really entreating like Larry David and Bill Murray, I
think that could shine.”
Mickelson was alluding to
making The Match an annual event,
with organizers of the tournament looking towards 2021. However, with summer
approaching and most major professional sports still not being played, why not aim
for another virtual edition this July or August?
Regardless, when word got out
to Steph Curry, he immediately said he would be in on the The Match II.
According to the online sportsbook, SportsBetting.ag, Curry is currently the favorite at -150 to partner with Mickelson in The Match III, with six-time NBA Finals MVP Michael Jordan as the favorite to partner with Tiger Woods at -150.
In those pairings, “Team Tiger” is still the favorites to win the tournament, but we wouldn’t bet against Curry who’s a great golfer in his own right.
Other celebrities featured in
the odds are Tony Romo, Jerry Rice, Charles Barkley, Steve Young, Aaron
Rodgers, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
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Source: NBC Los Angeles