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Four of the National Football League’s most prominent players will trade their playbooks for greenbooks on Wednesday as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers aim to use their expertise on the golf course against Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The foursome have shared the golf course spotlight at various pro-ams, celebrity events and charity outings over the years, but never mixed it up with the trash talk and fireworks of an NFL Sunday.
The sixth edition of The Match is scheduled to take place just outside of Las Vegas at Wynn Golf Club later this week. The exhibition outing, which saw Tiger Woods first pinned against Phil Mickelson in 2018, has since taken on a new form and evolved into a team charity event.
The match has had many different formats over the years, including an 18-hole match between Woods and Peyton Manning versus Mickelson and Brady. Other athletes were involved in later renditions of the event including Charles Barkley, Stephen Curry and Rodgers.
This match is not the first at Wynn Golf Club. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka faced off in a one-on-one match last November in which Koepka emerged victorious. In addition, this is the first edition that will not feature a single professional golfer.
The game 2022
Viewing Information
Date: Wednesday 1st June | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Wynn Golf Club – Paradise, Nevada
Transmission: TNT
format
12 hole match play, modified alternate shot
Score by hole: victory = 1 | Halve = 0.5 | loss = 0
teams
Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers: Brady has accomplished pretty much everything in his life… except for this event. The seven-time Super Bowl champion will make his third appearance in The Match and remains winless. Brady has had many memorable moments on both of his previous outings – from ripping his pants open to putting a hole in from the middle of the fairway. The 44-year-old is yet to show his best behavior but he’s around an 8 handicap. That’s on the higher end of the four players but the swing is silky and most experience should count for something. Rodgers, meanwhile, stole the show in his first and only appearance on The Match, sinking clutch putt after clutch putt while subtle jabs at teammate Bryson DeChambeau. Rodgers has the lowest handicap of any competitor at around five. He has since competed in the American Century Championship, finishing 24th ahead of Alfonso Ribeiro, who is a good golfer himself. Despite their struggles on the field, he and Brady should have good chemistry and have the upper hand when it comes to what to expect in this format.
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes: Being young and inexperienced might be enough to lead this duo to victory. Allen was last seen in the golf fan crowd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am teaming up with Keith Mitchell. Coincidentally, he came into the field late after he and the Bills were knocked out of the playoffs by Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round. According to the USGA GHIN handicap system, he’s about an 8 handicap – like Brady – and shouldn’t have any trouble on camera. Mahomes may be the joker of the bunch, which easily reflects his (and Allen’s) play on the griddle. He has competed in the American Century Championship and even won an event at Wynn Golf Club a few months ago alongside his main target, Travis Kelce. He may have the most firepower under his belt, but it’s relatively unknown if he’s able to use it properly. He finished 50th out of 87 at Lake Tahoe last July, sandwiched between ESPN’s Joe Buck and LSU football coach Brian Kelly.
tips and odds
Odds courtesy of Sportsline: Brady/Rodgers-160 | Allen/Mahomes: +140
It’s an unsettling feeling to have money tied to a charity event, especially since The Match has been pretty erratic over the years. The underdog has won three times in the five previous games, and based on this story, simply taking the plus-money side is the wisest option. According to their official handicaps, the duos are pretty evenly matched in terms of ability, so the +140 price point for Allen and Mahomes makes for the right game despite their lack of experience in the format. Choose: Allen/Mahomes +140
