Over the last three years golf fans have been treated to made-for-TV matches that offer a different kind of competition from that of the 72-hole stroke play events on the professional tours.
The previous four installments of Capital One’s: The Match have featured everyone from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, as well as two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry. The matches in Las Vegas, Florida, Arizona and Montana have produced on-course highlights and bloopers with plenty of well-timed and hilarious trash talk in between (much at the expense of the great Charles Barkley).
Before Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka duel Friday, Nov. 26, in the fifth Match just off the Las Vegas Strip, take a scroll through some of the best moments throughout the history of the competition.
The Match: Ranking them all, best to worst | Matches we want to see
Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal joined the Champions for Change broadcast to tease their colleague Charles Barkley, with jokes ranging from Barkley’s weight to his poor putting.
.@Shaq is merciless. pic.twitter.com/3uLRQ1SulX
— Skratch (@Skratch) November 27, 2020
Rodgers was impressive in his match debut, and even carried DeChambeau for some of the early holes. Then he started walking in putts like he’s Kevin Na.
RODGERS CALLED GAME 🔥
(@coronaextrausa) pic.twitter.com/unZWsZ4F9q
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 7, 2021
“As soon as I said it I wondered if I maybe shouldn’t have. I have a bad tendency of saying whatever comes to my head and that was one of those times,” said Thomas with a laugh to No Laying Up. “For some reason it’s fun talking smack to him and when he said that, he put it on a tee for me. I was going to let it go but I had to swing at it.”
Justin Thomas from the top rope!
JT to Charles Barkley “Chuck, I’d love to see your fat ass try to dunk a basketball right now.”
Barkley: “You can’t call me fat on TV, that’s bullying.”😂pic.twitter.com/aHzmqF0jYF
— BroBible (@BroBible) May 24, 2020
On the par-5 8th hole in the most-recent Match between Mickelson and Brady vs. DeChambeau and Rodgers at The Reserve Golf Course at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana, Phil was left in awe of this Bryson bomb.
Bryson DeChambeau crushes this ball 480 yards 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Gds4kbWMKf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 7, 2021
Tell us how ya really feel, Rickie.
Can we get Temper-Pedic to sponsor #TheMatch?? Bit of a pillow fight going right now haha I won’t these boys to play some golffff #letsgooo
— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) November 23, 2018
Barkley called game and told the broadcast to get some Law and Order reruns ready early. The man is the gift that keeps on giving every time he’s got a mic.
Charles Barkley is ready to call it before the turn. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/RNjRV0YpmO
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 27, 2020
The original match between Tiger and Phil left a little something to be desired across the board, but the boys delivered with some late drama, including this chip-in for birdie for Tiger that would tie the match and send it to a playoff.
