Tom Brady raised eyebrows with an eyeballs tweet yesterday.
https://twitter.com/TomBrady/status/1515775147088785412
As everyone should always expect for something like this, especially something like this from Tom Brady, it was a crummy commercial.
The Match series started out as a one-on-one exhibition between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018. That was only 3.5 years ago, but it might as well be 25 given all that’s happened since. Including, most relevant to this topic, Tiger Woods suffering career-threatening injuries in a car accident and Phil Mickelson somehow running afoul of golf’s governing bodies and the government of Saudi Arabia at the same time.
Needless to say, neither of them could be involved here. Bryson DeChambeau is also currently injured, and the only other pro golfer to have participated in the series so far, Brooks Koepka, presumably only did so to kick Bryson’s ass.
The Match has pivoted instead to becoming an all-amateur celebrity golf event, which does at the very least leverage crossover appeal of some of the NFL’s biggest names. Rodgers and Brady have both participated in the past, while Mahomes and Allen are newcomers.
Joel Beall had some details at Golf Digest on the presentation and format:
TNT will televise the contest, with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Like previous versions of “The Match” players will be mic’d up during competition, allowing viewers at home to hear the chatter inside the ropes and facilitate banter between the broadcast crew and players during the event. The 12-hole challenge format from the Koepka-DeChambeau bout will also return. Information regarding the broadcast team will be shared at a later date.
As always, part of the draw here will be watching famous athletes play golf poorly. Not extremely poorly, of course; by amateur standards all of these guys are probably fine. But the early part of the pandemic was brightened considerably by Tom Brady flailing all over the course in a Florida downpour, only to finally be redeemed by holing out for eagle while splitting his pants in the process.
https://twitter.com/BFawkes22/status/1264680020246700034
It was tremendous television.
As for this version, well, it’ll probably be more of the same. Seeing stars in a golf context can be entertaining for just about as long as one of these broadcasts tends to run. There’s a lot of downtime, because it’s golf and there are only four players out there, but having carts helps, as does everyone being mic’d up.
It won’t be essential viewing, of course, but it can be a nice distraction. Granted, early June is usually not the time we need a lot of extra sports distractions, but for primetime on a weeknight, the day before the NBA Finals begin, it will probably be a welcome addition.
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.