Long before Rory McIlroy completed the golf career grand slam by winning a green jacket at the 2025 Masters, a quartet of other sports legends took to the course to enjoy the conditions and a quick round at Augusta National.
During an appearance on Altitude Sports Radio earlier this month, the TNT personality and former NBA star detailed getting a call from Manning with a “proposition” to play and stay at the famous course, which is the home of the annual Masters Tournament.
“I’m probably going to get in trouble with Peyton Manning, but I gotta tell you this,” Barkley, 62, said. “So Peyton Manning called me a few months back. And he said ‘Chuck, I got a proposition for you… I want to take you to Augusta for a couple days and we’re gonna stay there.’ I said, ‘Oh I’m in.’
“He says ‘well, let me finish.’ I said, ‘no you’re finished there’s nothing you can say to me.’ … If he had said, ‘Hey, you got to cut my grass for the next two weeks,’ I’m like I’m gonna cut your damn grass.”
Barkley detailed the conditions at the home of the Masters and revealed how impressed he was by the course’s SubAir system. He then let it slip that he had even more famous company with him.
“It was two of the greatest days of my life,” Barkley said. “Shoutout to the great Dwyane Wade and Grant Hill, but thanks Peyton Manning for taking us there.”
Barkley, 62, is a big fan of the game of golf, and his awkward swing has been well-documented over the years.
In November 2020, Barkley famously teamed up with professional golfer Phil Mickelson to beat Manning and Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry in a match play event.