- Steph Curry, Charles Barkley to play with Phil Mickelson, Peyton Manning in The Match 3
- The event will take place Friday, November 27
- The Match 3 will reportedly benefit historically Black colleges and universities
On Thursday, Sportico reported that a third version of “The Match” is set to be announced. Sportico says Phil Mickelson and Peyton Manning will return for another round of golf on Friday, November 27, when they’ll be joined by NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
Barkley and Curry are set to replace Tiger Woods and Tom Brady, respectively, who played with Mickelson and Manning at the last charity event back in May. Woods and Mickelson squared off against one another in a one-on-one iteration of the event back in 2018.
.@StephenCurry30, Peyton Manning, @PhilMickelson, and Charles Barkley headline golf fundraiser – all to be broadcast for our abundant entertainment.
Read more: https://t.co/3UxM1GlbRE pic.twitter.com/QNQHDMHJmi
— Sportico (@Sportico) October 15, 2020
Of course, the quality of play at The Match 3 may suffer considering Mickelson is the only actual professional golfer of the four athletes set to square off. Barkley is notorious for having an incredibly ugly golf swing. Curry is said to be a much more respectable golfer, but he’s obviously nowhere near as prolific as Woods, whom many consider to be the greatest player of all-time.
The Match 3: Champions For Change will be for a great cause. The Match 2 raised around $20 million for COVID-19 relief efforts.
Curry’s Involvement Hardly a Surprise
Curry said back in May that he would love to be involved if there were to be a third version of The Match, and that idea has apparently come to fruition. Curry played at the American Century Championships at Lake Tahoe over the past couple of years, and he took a respectable fourth-place finish this past summer. Barkley has played in the same event, though he has not come particularly close to winning.
Barkley was one of the TNT commentators for The Match 2, and he added at one point that he would donate $50,000 if Brady could hit the green on one of the holes.
Could the Match Become an Annual Event?
The Match 2 was the most-watched golf telecast in the history of cable, averaging nearly six million viewers with a peak of 6.3 million. After the successful round, Mickelson said that he believes it should become an annual event.
At the time, Mickelson mused,
“What if Tiger and I were to team up and take on two younger players, or what if we were to team up with younger players and have it be a real high-level golf competition? I think there’s a market for that. But you have to have some personality in there, too, so a guy like Justin Thomas showed how funny he is and he would add a lot to an event like that.”
He added, “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. 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 entertaining like Larry David and Bill Murray. I think that could shine.”
Turner Sports has declined to comment on the report, but the news may become official soon. Sportico says that historically Black colleges and universities will be the beneficiaries of the upcoming event.
The 2020 Masters, which were originally set to take place in April, have been rescheduled for November 12-15. The Match 3 will take place two weeks after that.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
