Over the last five years, the one-on-one golf matchup, called “The Match” featuring 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods and now-LIV Golf member Phil Mickelson, has evolved into a celebrity matchup, primarily featuring players from the PGA Tour or current or former players from other sports.
From The Match of Brooks Koepka versus Bryson DeChambeau, or the most recent one last December that featured a PGA Tour two-on-two battle of Woods and current World No. 3 Rory McIlroy versus the dynamic duo of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, some of golf’s best have been in the limelight for all to see.
From some of football’s current stars, such as Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers, whom the latter was traded to the New York Jets last week, to one of the NFL’s past stars in Peyton Manning, The Match has transitioned to stars of other sports, not just golf.
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Who is playing in The Match?
On Wednesday, The Match unveiled its newest two-on-two matchup featuring a couple of well-known duos that dominate their sport that will take place under the lights on June 29 at the Wynn Las Vegas, the same site DeChambeau and Koepka battled it out two years ago.
The latest matchup will be a 12-hole matchup like the last one last December, as Golden State Warriors teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, also known as the Splash Bros, go up against Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
The Wynn Golf Club property is a par-70 course, lasting 6,722 yards, that was designed by Tom Fazio and recently updated by his son, Logan. The players will deal with elevation and water hazards to challenge play.
This is the eighth version of The Match and the first to feature duos from the NFL and the NBA.
This version of The Match will come after the NBA Finals, in the event Curry and Thompson reach the championship round of the playoffs in late June for a second straight year.
It will be a championship fest for the competitors as Curry and Thompson each have four rings as Mahomes and Kelce have won two Super Bowls. All four players took home the most recent championship from their respective sport, with the Chiefs taking home the Lombardi Trophy in February and the Warriors winning the NBA Finals last June.
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Curry and Mahomes faced off in different versions of the Match. Mahomes, who was partnered with Allen, lost to Rodgers and newly retired quarterback Tom Brady last year after Rodgers made some clutch putts down the stretch at the Wynn Golf Club.
The four-time NBA Champion played in the November 2020 edition of The Match that featured Manning, Mickelson, and NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Barkley and Mickelson were able to take down Curry and Manning, 4 and 3.
As a result, that means both Curry and Mahomes are looking for their first wins in The Match.
Prior to Curry appearing in the Match, the two-time MVP competed in two Korn Ferry Tour events, the Ellie Mae Classic, in 2017 and 2018, which took place in San Francisco.
For their teammates, Kelce has also been around the celebrity golf circle, playing in the American Century Championship in July with Mahomes and Curry that takes place at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev. at the border of California and Nevada on the east side of Lake Tahoe.
Thompson’s golf game had been on the shelf for the past few years after he went through rehabilitation for both a torn ACL and a torn Achilles before this season. However, this will not stop Thompson, who is competing for the first time on a stage comparable to the American Century Championship or The Match.
As much as it will be fun and competitive, all the proceeds will go to various charities, which is either selected by the Match or players themselves. The Match has raised more than $35 million for various organizations and has donated more than 27 million meals to Feeding America.
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