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In what is increasingly becoming less of a one-off event and more of a recurring special, The Match: Champions for Change (aka The Match III) will feature four all-time great athletes (and personalities) in an 18-hole battle at The Stone Canyon Golf Club in Arizona. This time around, Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley will team up against Stephen Curry and Charles Barkley in the modified alternate match play format.
Match III takes place Friday with a start time of 3 p.m. ET on TNT. He’ll be showcasing all the goodies we’ve enjoyed at events like these, including golf cart cameras, microphones everywhere, and plenty of interviews throughout the day.
The whole thing should be slightly more laid back than the first two editions – which both featured Tiger Woods – but will also serve to raise funds for HBCUs while also highlighting diversity and equality. The whole show should be a nice post-Thanksgiving capper on a golf-free week of the PGA Tour.
Let’s take a closer look at what to expect on Friday.
Wait, where’s Tiger?
That’s a good question with an intriguing answer. Match executive producer Bryan Zuriff told CNBC that maybe it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that Woods wasn’t involved this time around. I don’t know if he hasn’t been invited – given his draw, I’m sure – but that might not be where his gifts can shine best. “I think it’s more than golf,” he said, “and Tiger is the greatest golfer of all time. But spending three hours with these guys in the golf carts where they should be. open, we don’t understand that with Tiger. “
Wait, Charles Barkley?
Barkley was involved in the show for the first two of these, but now he’s teamed up with Mickelson, who recently said they had “Chuck Tees” at Stone Canyon Golf Club. Barkley guaranteed a win, but the format could be problematic for him if Mickelson were to rely on Chuck in the alternate shot format. Its long – and often hilarious – the history of golf should lend itself to great television, but I’m not sure it will result in a victory.
“We are losing maybe the greatest golf of all time to maybe the worst of all time,” Zuriff told CNBC.
Where is the money going?
In May, The Match II raised more than $ 20 million for COVID-19 relief. This time around, universities like Morehouse College, Howard, Alabama A&M, Hampton and Winston-Salem State will receive funding from WarnerMedia. In addition, there will be competitions on the course (ie “hole in one” contests) to get money for these universities, and golfers have all partnered with a school to do. a donation.
- Phil Mickelson: Jackson State
- Charles Barkley: Tuskegee
- Steph Curry: Howard
- Peyton Manning: Grambling State, Southern University in New Orleans and Lane College
Curry had previously provided Howard with enough money to run a men’s and women’s golf program for six years.
Should we expect this every Thanksgiving?
It’s starting to look like this. The first edition of this event – Mickelson vs. Woods – took place on Black Friday in 2018, but the event was skipped last year before reappearing in May to help relieve COVID-19. Looks like this will be a rotating cast of Thanksgiving characters in the future, which should help keep it fresh and fun as long as there are microphones and cameras everywhere.
Viewing experience
TNT will televise the event at 3 p.m., and there will be a ton of people airing, including Brian Anderson, Trevor Immelman, Andre Iguodala, Cheyenne Woods, Gary McCord, Cari Champion, Eli Manning and Michelle Wie. The B / R Live app will have a cart camera all the time, and the pre-game show starts at 2 p.m.
Odds, prediction
Curry and Manning are -170 favorites over Mickelson and Barkley, who are +140 up for grabs, according to William Hill Sportsbook. I imagine this is the first time (?) That a five-time major winner has been an underdog for two non-professional golfers, but that’s Barkley’s effect on your team.
I recently said on the First Cut podcast that Manning and Curry were probably rocking it as well as Mickelson is currently doing, which is … mostly a joke. I want to pick Mickelson and Barkley because I get a five-time major winner with more odds against two non-pros, but Barkley is going to be a problem. I know Curry is legit, and Manning did pretty well in May in the game with Woods. I will reluctantly choose these two to win, even if that sounds a bit like a sucker bet. Picks: Manning and Curry -170
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