Woods, Manning claim narrow victory at The Match II
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning held off a streaking team of Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady to win "The Match: Champions for Charity" on a wildly entertaining Sunday at the Medalist Golf Club.
The sequel to "Tiger vs. Phil" had it all: Fantastic shots and equally poor ones, hilarious moments, horrible weather, and $20 million raised for COVID-19 relief efforts.
To summarize: The Match II delivered.
Manning and Brady looked nervous from the start, providing amateurs at home a rare opportunity to relate to the NFL legends. Their struggles added excitement to a showdown ultimately decided on the 18th hole.
The match didn't appear poised to go the distance early on, though. Woods and Manning held a commanding 3-up lead after six holes and carried it into the back nine. But once Brady settled in, he and Mickelson began to claw their way back.
It was a hole-out birdie from the middle of the fairway that spurred Brady's awakening on the par-5 seventh. The remarkable shot came shortly after Charles Barkley gave Brady a hard time for his poor play while serving as an analyst for the broadcast.
But Woods wasn't going to let Mickelson get the better of him again after the latter won their first showdown in Las Vegas in 2018. Looking healthy after a two-month layoff, Tiger methodically picked apart his home course. Woods didn't miss a single fairway as he carried Manning, who was losing steam down the stretch, to victory. It was Tiger's brilliant lag putt on 18 that secured the 1-up win.
“We fought hard," Mickelson said, according to Golf Channel's Will Gray. "I was a little nervous, a little tight on the front nine. My man kept us in there, and the back nine he really shined. We made a run and came really close."
Brady, who took a beating on Twitter for his ugly start, congratulated the winning side afterward.
Congrats to @TigerWoods and Peyton for a hard fought victory and thanks to @PhilMickelson for coaching your boy and keeping us in it.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 25, 2020
Now...back to my day job 😉
In the end, Woods reminded everyone what the event was all about.
"It's great, the fact that we all came together and we were able to raise $20 million for those that have been so severely affected," Woods said, according to Gray. "This is our arena. This is what we do. We couldn't imagine going out onto the field and doing what they do."