A few random thoughts about The Match while remembering the reason for the day...
- Had a blast watching The Match on Sunday featuring Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, and I didn't think that would happen. I mean, if I only lasted a few holes watching Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Matthew Wolff duel on a course I've played before, why would Sunday be any different?
- I didn't at all care about Tiger vs. Phil ... I was engrossed in the team match with two amateurs. Actually, so was my wife.
- A couple of things you need to know about us: she played golf collegiately and as a pro in our former lives; we met at the Rutgers University Golf Course; I grew up around the game, worked at golf courses in the summer during high school and college (was a single-digit handicap until my mid-20s) ... so golf has been important to us.
- Both of us watched the match just about from start to finish ... why? I've been trying to figure that out because normally I can't stand events like this, especially televised golf.
- I definitely tuned in to hear some good banter among elite athletes and, especially, to be entertained by Manning. He's incredibly funny (and, yes, he's not as relatable in everyday life ... he knows how to turn it on).
Peyton Manning talking about who he'd have as his caddie: "Do you bring Eli? You could do that. Do you bring Nick Foles? Maybe."
Brady: "That's a cheap shot"
Peyton picked Bill Belichick.
Gotta love the Brady/Manning rivalry ?? pic.twitter.com/uxIVuxKI7X
— Lifelong TOMpa Bay Buccaneers fan (@FTBeard1) May 24, 2020
- Thought the elements would aid Brady...
- I think the banter and Brady's struggles really kept the match entertaining for the first nine holes. Leave it to Brady — Mr. Bundchen, GOAT, Aston Martin, Tag Heuer, TB12 Method. Uggs and St. Jetersburg/Brookline — to finally find a way to become relatable to the everyday fan by stinking up the golf course.
- Struggling like that must have enraged Brady to no end. The one thing those guys do not want to do is embarrass themselves, and Brady was embarrassing himself (in his own mind ... the rest of us play exactly the same and would have soiled some linens in the same spot).
- I figured out the issue...
- When Mickelson tossed out his earpiece after getting feedback, who else thought of Mike Tomlin saying, "We were listening to the Patriots radio broadcast!"? Devious Bill Belichick at it again, this time against Brady. Zolak!
- I mean, people were just piling on Brady ... Charles Barkley, Brooks Koepka, Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, J.J. Watt ... betcha that secretly will continue to burn Brady. Then the coup de grace was Barkley — the world's worst golfer! — telling Brady he would give him strokes the next time they play. At that point, Brady had enough and produced the best and most improbable moment of the match (I mean, until that point, he couldn't hit water if he fell out of boat) ...
Never doubt @TomBrady.
Charles Barkley learned the hard way ... pic.twitter.com/muZ0xkt5xJ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 24, 2020
- I thought it was a really good move to have a broadcast neophyte like Justin Thomas on the course with those players instead of another regular on-course commentator (along with Barkley). JT was more of a peer to all of those guys so he could join in on the banter seamlessly. I thought Amanda Balionis did fine in her role and she obviously put a lot of work in, but I think I would have liked a comedian in there instead. Like a Kevin Hart to throw insults all over the place.
- Brady's swing issue was that he was coming out of his shot too soon. He was lifting up on the takeaway and at contact ... that's fine if you play all the time because it takes perfect timing. It's too advanced for the occasional golfer. Peyton started getting flippy with wrists/elbow at the top ... made him late at contact.
- Give me more of Mickelson talking through shots ... and could Tiger help us out a little with that for crying out loud? He's so awkward trying to bust chops ... he just sticks to the cliches to make it seem like he's one of the guys when he's really not (though he has become more human since The Incident).
- The banter/Brady's struggles carried the event through the turn and then after that, the competition kicked in. Things got really quiet as the match started to tighten. Manning was up to his old choking tricks ... he was all in his head hoping Tiger would leave him gimmes. My wife pointed out in alternate shot, if you're the weaker player you're consumed with having an easy shot and not messing up ... she was right. When we played together, I was fixated on having a routine shot because if not, I could send us into a huge score (which I did early at The Country Club on a few holes in the state husband and wife a few years ago ... but we rallied to finish tied for like 12th).
- Seeing Brady take orders (and well) was interesting ... guess he liked the gameplan in this match and didn't feel like Mickelson was moving on from him ;)
- It still felt like Patriots vs. the Broncos/Colts ... even I felt Brady was still a member of the Patriots, I can only imagine what you all felt. This season is going to be really weird.
- Manning was really starting to choke on the back nine — complete with the Manning face like Ty Law just intercepted him in the slop — Brady was starting to feel himself, and the match took on a familiar feeling...
- And then Manning pulled off this shot, which basically iced the match ...
GREAT shot from Peyton pic.twitter.com/GCfqjmFJtz
— Lifelong TOMpa Bay Buccaneers fan (@FTBeard1) May 24, 2020
- In the end, the match had a little bit of everything that you would want in a sporting event, whether you were watching or in it yourself: good-natured ribbing, relatable struggles, some great insight where you learned a few things, some fantastic shots, and some really good competition/tension at the end that had you nervous on the couch. Had a few beers watching it, made some jokes in the sports bar known as Twitter was we went along (of course there were the losers who tried to bring facts and troll-ness to a fake sporting event ... seriously, those people need to get a life). I don't like to give in to hyperbole, but for about 5 hours on Sunday things were back to normal.
- Let's do it — or something similar — again real soon.
- And, oh yeah, Brady is now 0-1 without Belichick.