Woods, Mickelson line up charity rematch, with add-ons this time

By Rahul Banerji

Eighteen months after they went head to head for $9 million in charity money at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will face off again next month.

While the November 3, 2018, event was billed as The Match, the event this time is flying under the banner of “The Match: Champions for Charity” for an undisclosed sum, at an undisclosed location, and minus spectators.

The Match was an unofficial PGA Tour, winner take all event that Mickelson won after 22 holes that included four playoffs. Plenty of side bets marked the action that drew close to a quarter of a million viewers.

This time, the two golfers will have partners. Mickelson tweeted two days ago that pairings had been decided already and that he would team up with American football legend Tom Brady.

Power pairs

Tiger Woods will have former star quarter-back, Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos, for company.

The money raised at the May spectacle will go towards Covid-19 relief efforts, the corona-virus having virtually shut down the world and knocking a massive dent in global sporting activity.

That included pushing this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games to a 2021 slot, cancelling the French Open and Wimbledon, and in all likelihood, the Indian Premier League as well.

Early chirps

“After feeling the sting of defeat the first time around, Looks like @TigerWoods is bringing a ringer to The Match (#PeytonManning),” tweeted Mickelson. He added he would be bringing six-time Super Bowl winner Brady along to the fight.

Added Brady, “been waiting 4 years to get a rematch with Peyton … expecting a better result this time around.”

If it comes through, the Champions for Charity match will be the first major sporting action since the corona-virus shut down life as we know it. The PGA Tour is scheduled to resume play with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas early June.

Tiger bites back

Not to be left behind, Tiger climbed into his opponents, saying on a Golf Digest telecast that he anticipated plenty of back-and-forth during the match that will possibly be played late in May at the Medallist Golf Club in Florida.

“There has been a little bit of trash talk already, a little bit of banter back and forth,” Woods said. “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.”

Also read: PGA Tour to advance schedule; June 11 set as tee-off date