(At Least) $10 Million To COVID-19 Relief: The Match Redux (Finally) Finalized For May 24th At Medalist

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Mighty impressive dollar figures, causes and creative ways to keep our interest in what otherwise could be less interesting than it sounds. (By contrast, the PGA Tour/NBC/Taylor Made/UnitedHealth on May 17th is donating $3 million to COVID-19 charity from UnitedHealth and another $1 million from Farmers Insurance is going to a fund.)

Turner Sports to Exclusively Present “Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity” 

with Tiger Woods & Phil Mickelson Joined by Peyton Manning & Tom Brady 

in Blockbuster Live Golf Event Held Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m. ET

$10 Million Charitable Donation Made to COVID-19 Relief;

Additional Fundraising to Include On-Course Challenges & Partnership with ALL IN Challenge

Showdown of Legendary Woods/Manning & Mickelson/Brady Pairings

Simulcast Across TNT, TBS, truTV & HLN

Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity to be Hosted at Prestigious Medalist Golf Club in Florida

Turner Sports will present Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity, a blockbuster live golf competition headlined by golf icons Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson returning for a rematch, this time joined by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the NFL’s greatest players of all time. The premier sports event – simulcast exclusively on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN – will be held Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m. ET, with pre-match coverage available in the Bleacher Report app. Associated with the live telecast, WarnerMedia and the golfers will collectively make a charitable donation of $10 million to benefit COVID-19 relief. As part of the fundraising efforts, the competition will also include a partnership with the ALL IN Challenge, along with additional on-course competitive challenges for charity.

Fundraising associated with Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity will support national and local beneficiaries, aiming to help make an impact on many of the communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations will be made to organizations working across multiple areas of need including Direct Relief, which equips health workers on the front lines with life-changing medical supplies; the American Red Cross, which has adapted its everyday emergency relief efforts to work within this new environment, including providing virtual support and collecting convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment; Save Small Business, a grant-making initiative to help small business employers who are struggling due to the pandemic; and the ALL IN Challenge, an initiative that aims to eliminate food insecurity by providing food to those in need.

In partnership with the ALL IN Challenge, all four participants will have donated custom experiences that will raise millions towards the cause, with viewers having the ability to enter into a live raffle for ones featuring Woods and Mickelson during the telecast as well.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unimaginable tragedy and heartbreak,” said Jeff Zucker, Chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports. “We’re hopeful this event and platform will help raise meaningful funding for COVID-19 relief, while also providing a source of brief distraction and entertainment for all sports fans.

Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity, a sanctioned PGA TOUR event, will be held at the prestigious Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla. Opened in 1995, the renowned course acts as the home course to many PGA Tour players including Tiger Woods. In preparation for the event, tournament organizers are working with state and local government and public health officials on competition and production logistics to ensure the event follows safety and health protocols.

The competition will feature Woods and Manning vs. Mickelson and Brady, facing off in Team Match Play with a Four-Ball (Best Ball) format on the front nine and a Modified Alternate Shot format on the back nine, where each participant will tee off and then the team will play alternate shot from the selected drive. The unique combination of formats is aimed to provide an entertaining mix of strategy, team collaboration and consequence to nearly every shot. As part of the competitive play, there will also be a set of on-course challenges to raise additional charitable funds.

Live coverage airing on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN will feature unprecedented access with all players having open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators. More information on the live production, including the commentator team, will be announced leading up to the event. In addition to live televised coverage, social and digital content prior to the event will be available through Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.

The media agreement with WarnerMedia and Turner Sports was completed in partnership between Excel Sports Management and Lagardère Sports. Excel and Lagardère Sports are also the tournament organizers.

Turner Sports is proud to be working with a number of marketing partners to host Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity, in service of maximizing COVID-19 relief. Capital One is returning as title sponsor and will collaborate closely with Turner Sports on a number of social, digital and broadcast integrations leading up to and during the live event.

“At Capital One, we’re committed to supporting our customers, communities and partners through this difficult time, and that is why we are proud to be the returning title sponsor of Capital One's The Match: Champions for Charity. This wonderful event will bring four of the world's best athletes together for a tremendous cause," said Marc Mentry, Chief Brand Officer, Capital One. “Capital One knows our customers are passionate about sports, which is why we are excited to support this event and to help bring awareness to these amazing charities."

Presenting partners include Audi of America, Michelob ULTRA and Progressive Insurance. Content integration partners include Cisco and DraftKings, with AT&T, HBO Max, Callaway, Wheels Up and E-Z-GO serving as associate sponsors.

Woods and Mickelson previously faced off in Capital One’s The Match in November 2018 at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Tied following 18 holes, Mickelson won on the fourth playoff hole.

The format sounds like a fun way to take advantage of the admittedly odd foursome, inevitably forcing Tiger and Phil to play from some places they are not used to.

Here is the Ernie Johnson-hosted chat with the participants, Phil positioning his green jacket photo in less than subtle fashion, Tiger in the padded panic room again, Brady in the Four Seasons Vice Presidential suite and Peyton in front of a painting of Tapit.

The Match 2: Floridians React About How You'd Expect To Governor's Tweet

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While the PGA Tour works on some of the logistical hurdles before signing off, The Match 2 with Woods, Mickelson, Brady and Manning is such a go that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis put in a social media plug.

As Garry Smits notes for the Times-Union, the news of a for-charity golf match went over about how you’d expect in a state where farmers are suffering and the unemployment process is failing. Well, unless you’re the governor.

As of 5:30 p.m., 45 of the first 53 replies to the DeSantis tweet were from people railing about the state’s inability to fix its unemployment web site, and criticizing DeSantis for trumpeting a golf match.

“I can’t afford cable and I’ll probably have to start selling all my stuff, like my TV ... because I’ve been pending on my unemployment since [March 22],” said one person.

“I can assure you, most people would rather know they’ll be getting paid than watch golf,” posted another.

“Ron, I’ll play you 18 holes for my unemployment benefits,” said another poster.

A date and golf course have not been announced.

Tiger Woods spoke from his padded panic room about the event to GolfTV, summarized here at GolfDigest.com by Daniel Rapaport.



Tiger, Phil Confirm The Match 2 Is On For May With Brady, Manning**

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I’d hate to call this announcement premature since Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both retweeted this report:

However, note in this story from The Action Network’s Darren Rovell (with additional reporting by Jason Sobel), that the PGA Tour has not officially signed off on the event. Even as independent contractors, players must get a release to play in any other competition not already sanctioned by the PGA Tour.

A PGA TOUR official told The Action Network’s Jason Sobel that Tiger and Phil would need to receive a “release form for them to play a televised or streamed event in the U.S.”

A TOUR official told Sobel, “We are still in discussions on a number of items, including ensuring the health and safety for all involved with the event.”

Obviously working through all safety protocols and considering precautions for such an event in the next month is a major process. As of April 1, the early details of this concept were out and the Tour was still mulling its position in these very fluid times.

That said, when the original “Match” was announced in 2018, all parties were aligned in sharing the news.

Florida Governor Wants Woods-Mickelson Match For Content-Starved World

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Ron DeSantis has made sports an essential business in Florida, reports Jan Jankowski. He wants to generate content.

Gov. DeSantis said he is open to supporting more sporting events with no crowds.

“If NASCAR does a race and can televise it without having a large crowd, I think that’s a good thing,“ he said.

He also mentioned he would be open to seeing a Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson golf challenge in the state.

“We wouldn’t have a gallery there, you wouldn’t have crowds. But to put that on TV, I think people have been starved for content,” DeSantis said.

So the easy part is done: Florida will host The Match 2 or whatever they are reportedly cooking up in the name of COVID-19 charity.

Now the hard part for Phil and Tiger: getting a PGA Tour release.

Debut Podcast! The Shack Show, With Guest Michael Bamberger

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The Shack Show is here and begins an odyssey that hopes to add some substance and, in these bleak days, a bit of diversion. The show will evolve, as it already has signed joining up with the good folks at iHeartRadio. For now, The Shack Show will feature conversations with figures in golf and focus on select topics. While the frequency may vary, I hope to keep these chats at a manageable length. Because as a podcast listener for over a decade, I know you have more choices than ever.

To kick off the show in this postponed Masters week, I chat with noted Golf Magazine/Golf.com writer and longtime book author Michael Bamberger. We discuss Bamberger’s new book The Second Life of Tiger Woods (reviewed here), the 2019 Masters, Greg Norman and golf before, during and after this pandemic.

I hope you’ll enjoy the pod and subscribe wherever you get podcasts. For The Shack Show or podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartradio app, the Apple podcast store, the Stitcher option, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

As always, you can listen below as well:

Tiger's Inaugural (Unofficial) Champions Dinner Looks Pretty Swell

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Looks like a pretty stellar gathering if you can’t have the real thing in Augusta. And no awkward cocktail banter with Vijay or TWatson.

Review: The Second Life Of Tiger Woods

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Don’t be fooled. Michael Bamberger has immense respect for his subject matter. But at times reading the longtime golf author’s new book, you might question at times just exactly how he feels about Tiger Woods.

This sensibility, however, was not created by Bamberger. It was Woods’ topsy-turvy decade and his bizarre last decade that miraculously ended in rebirth as a giant of sport. Bamberger’s issue is that he’s an outstanding reporter who picks up relatable details. It’s just that Tiger gave us two kinds of drama over the last decade and mercifully, after reviewing Woods’ injuries, the WD’s, the Dr. Galea time and the comeback trail, The Second Life of Tiger Woods (Avid Reader Press) finishes with the victorious 2019 Masters.

The number of insights, stories and well-labeled legends of anecdotal lineage are all presented in Bamberger’s inimitable style and often challenged by the reporter, as well. For as rough as some reminders are of Woods’ DUI or his struggles to recover his game, the ride is filled with plenty of stellar anecdotes for lovers of all things golf, and in particular, The Masters. (For devotees of the tradition unlike any other, the book is worth the cover price for Bamberger’s fresh details just on how the Champions Dinner works and Woods’ approach to the 2019 Masters. Oh, and the the Augusta National Golf Club security drive story that reportedly got Tiger laughing hard.)

Since we have no 2020 Masters to watch, reliving everything leading up to Tiger’s fifth title is well worth the ride, even if the road was bumpier than we’d prefer to recall.

Tiger Tweets: TGR Foundation Offering Free Education Lessons, Resources During Coronavirus Crisis

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Amazing to see what the folks at the TGR Foundation are doing with millions of children at home and parents looking for things to occupy the time (full explanation and curriculum at the link).

Tiger Tweeted last night about the #STEM offerings in partnership with Discovery Education. Besides lessons for parents, they are also offering resources for educators and an email It’s beyond impressive. And all free.

I can’t get the embed playing in a larger format, so just head to their link for a better version as it’s a comprehensive explanation of how to easily find their offerings.

Is Tiger On A Hogan-In-'53 Schedule, Or Is It Something More?

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He did warn us he would be playing a lot less. We just didn’t know his schedule would look like Hogan’s in 1953.

Tiger Woods’ decision to skip the 2020 Players after looking seemingly healthy the last we saw him, suggests there is reason to be concerned about his back, writes ESPN.com’s Bob Harig.

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, offered nothing more than a text that read: "Back just not ready. Not concerning long term, just not ready.''

Given the chance to ask -- a simple question: How could this not be concerning?

Is there more to it than just a stiff back? Is another part of the back compromised? Could it be some other injury not being disclosed -- like the knee troubles that plagued him last year that nobody had a clue about until Woods announced he had surgery?

Given Notah Begay’s comments earlier this week about a 2019 “ripple effect”, Daniel Rapoport’s conclusion makes sense even though Woods swung the club beautifully at January’s Farmers Insurance Open.

Perhaps Woods' hectic end of 2019 is still taking a toll. After winning the Zozo Championship in Japan to tie Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA Tour victories, Woods finished T-4 at the Hero World Challenge, then made a 26-hour trip to Australia for the Presidents Cup, where he went 3-0-0 as a player-captain of the winning American side. He said after that trip that he would put the clubs away for a while to rest.

In a pre-Masters conference call, Woods had said his upcoming tournament decisions would be “weather dependent.” The Players forecast calls for sunny, mid-70s days.

Tiger, Rory, JT Passing Up Honda Suggests The Model Isn't Working

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Friday’s news offered a fascinating juxtaposition of stories unless you live in the 32082.

There is this AP story by Doug Ferguson on Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas all passing up next week’s Honda Classic, even though they could play and sleep at home sweet home.

And despite a pretty compelling second round down at the WGC Mexico City, where Bryson DeChambeau fired 63 and a good leaderboard should make the weekend interesting, look at Golfweek’s homepage:

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This was all set against the Premier Golf League’s Andy Gardiner making the rounds: talking to me exclusively here, to Golf Digest’s Max Adler, and most compelling of all, on Rick Shiel’s podcast where you can finally put a voice to the concept.

While I think you’ll get more specific details from the interview I posted, anyone listening to Gardiner talking to Shiels can hear an earnest view about how professional golf’s current schedule and excess of “product” is not working. Gardiner is able to lay out a vision that is strong, refined and ably rebuts some of the more compelling criticisms of the concept.

After the nearly 90 minute chat I was still left with questions about the proposed league’s details, but my ultimate conclusion was unexpected: the Premier Golf League lays out a smart future for professional golf after Tiger.

There has been much focus on whether Woods will commit and a curious glee at the prospect of Rory McIlroy invoking Arnold Palmer to reject the PGL—a curious example given Palmer’s flirtations with disruption in the early 1960s and 1980s.

Yes, both players could make the league take off and Woods could certainly torpedo the PGL’s chances of starting in 2022 by declining. But the vision laid out by Gardiner, and surprising no-shows at events like the Honda, also explains why Woods said last week that he expects regular runs at the PGA Tour model going forward.

He said that because whether it was Gardiner, his agent or just Woods’ overall vision telling him what is becoming increasingly clear: the professional golf model is broken. And when Woods retires, it may recede into a very small corner of the sports universe.

The PGL’s revision of the “tour” model would prevent something like we saw Friday: next week’s non-commitments overshadowing this week’s tournament. Their guarantee of top fields, a January-August schedule and a very intriguing team component bring new life to the pro game, presenting a refreshed vision for the sport long after Tiger has hung up his Nike’s. For that alone, the Premier Golf League is worthy of everyone’s attention.

Of Course Tiger's First Hole Eagle Putt Was 24 Feet, 8 Inches

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The stars keep aligning this week at the Genesis Invitational, as Tiger’s first hole eagle putt measured out at 24 feet, 8 inches according to ShotLink.

Just over two weeks since Kobe Bryant’s passing, the former No, 24 and No. 8 of the Los Angeles Lakers, here is Woods’ eagle putt en route to an opening 69.

Tiger was asked about it after the round:

Q. Tiger, can you talk about the first hole and the eighth hole where you made the eagle putt from 24 feet eight inches, Kobe's numbers, and then you get to No. 8 that's dedicated to Kobe and you birdied that?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's ironic, isn't it? He was a -- it was a nice way to start. I didn't know about the putt being that long. As I said, ironic that having those two numbers. And then No. 8, happened to hit one in there close and had a nice little kick-in there for birdie.

You know, no matter what we do, I think for a while we're going to always remember Kobe and what he meant, and especially here in SoCal and the entire sports world. Like I said, very ironic that I happened to have those numbers on those holes and those exact measurements.

Tiger Sounding Unlikely For 2021 Presidents Cup Captaincy, And That's A Good Sign

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Tiger’s comments at the Genesis Invitational suggest he will follow Ernie Els in not returning to captain the 2021 Presidents Cup squad.

From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com report:

“I’m struggling with the same issues,” Woods said Tuesday. “As an American, we have two Cups that we’re involved in, not just every other year, where the Internationals are the European team. So the responsibilities on an American are a little bit more.”

Left unsaid: Woods was uncertain about his playing future when he committed to Captaining in 2019. Now that he appears healthy and likely to have a few more good years of competitive golf, his next Captaincy seems 6-8 years away and will likely be a Ryder Cup.

He also doesn’t have to spend the next two years saying how much he looks forward to returning to Quail Hollow, so there’s that too.

Woods also made a fun remark related to his 2019 pairings with Justin Thomas.

Tiger On The Premier Golf League: "We're looking into it."

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Tiger Woods was asked for thoughts on the proposed Premier Golf League, calling the proposed circuit a natural evolution of the World Golf Championships. He also suggested ideas like this will continue and did not rule out the current proposal as an option:

Q. Tiger, have you personally been approached about the Premier Golf League concept and what do you think of the whole idea?

TIGER WOODS: Have I been personally approached? Yes, and my team's been aware of it and we've delved into the details of it and trying to figure it out just like everyone else. We've been down this road before with World Golf Championships and other events being started, or other tours want to evolve and started. There's a lot of information that we're still looking at and whether it's reality or not, but just like everybody else, we're looking into it.

And this follow-up suggesting such proposals will be a regular thing of the future.

Q. Why do you think something like that would even have a possibility? Is there something not right out here that you would like to see better?

TIGER WOODS: I think that just like all events, you're trying to get the top players to play more collectively. It's one of the reasons why we instituted the World Golf Championships, because we were only getting together five times a year, the four majors and THE PLAYERS, and we wanted to showcase the top players on more than just those occasions. We came up with the World Golf Championships and we're meeting more often. And so this is a natural evolution, whether or not things like this are going to happen, but ideas like this are going to happen going forward, whether it's now or any other time in the future.

Tiger On Distance Insights: "It's going to be probably...well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out."

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Tiger Woods was asked at today’s Genesis Invitational about the Distance Insights Report and remained consistent with past views, but did reiterate how the sport has run out of room to grow courses.

Q. Tiger, how do you see the discussion around the distance insights study evolving and how would you like to see that discussion resolved?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I've always said that the game of golf, it's fluid, it's moving. The golf ball is certainly going a lot further than the balata days. We've changed it from using a tree to using high-tech metal. We've come a long way in this game. What's been crazy, I've been a part of all that. My career when I first started, I beat Davis Love in a playoff and he was using a persimmon driver. To see the technology advance as fast as it has, the average distance was, from when I first came out on here, if you carry it 270, it took a lot of trouble out of play. Now guys are hitting their hybrids and 5-woods 270 in the air. So the game has evolved and it's changed. We're running out of property to try and design golf courses that are from the back 7,800 to 8,000yards, it's difficult.But on top of that, we want to keep the game so enjoyable and we've trying to get more participation, and having the larger heads, more forgiving clubs, it adds to the enjoyment of the game. So there's a very delicate balancing act where we're trying to keep the game at, but also as we've all recognized, the players have changed over the years, too. When I first came out it was just Vijay and myself in the gyms and now seems like everyone has their own trainer and physios and guys got bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic like all sports.

He seems resigned to not seeing any kind of rule change for the remainder of his playing days:

Q. Just to follow up on that, can we put you down for bifurcation or do you still want to read the report and kind of think that through?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that is certainly on discussion, it's on the table whether we bifurcate or not. It's only one percent of the guys or women that are going to be using that type of equipment, but we want to keep the game enjoyable, we want to keep having more kids want to come play it. It's so difficult now, I mean, with everyone walking around with their head down because they can't get away from their mobile device to come out here and play a game that's hopefully more on the slow side, we want to have that type of enjoyment. Part of the discussion going forward is do we bifurcate or not. That's, you know, it's going to be probably even well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out.

And this on Riviera and classic courses:

Q. Tiger, one more thing on the distance. Riviera seems maybe as well as any other course to have withstood the test of time and the changes, I mean, without having to add five, six, seven hundred yards. What is it about this place that's allowed it do that?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it has and it hasn't. We've lengthened 12, redone 8, they've moved a few tees back. Yes, the alleyways are still the same, but when they moved No.12 back, what, 70yards, it used to be just a 1-iron and a wedge and now you're hitting driver and 4-iron. Yeah, there have been some holes that they're able to extend, but for the most part the confines are what they are here. So where they've tried to add distance, they have, but there's really nowhere to go.

Agent On Current PGA Tour Structure: "Tiger Woods can sell a million dollars' worth of tickets...and he has to shoot scores to get paid"

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Bob Harig of ESPN.com provides an “everything you need to know about the league trying to challenge the PGA Tour” perspective. Of note, he focuses in on the building sense that top players and their agents see the stars in golf as severely underpaid, something the Premier Golf League appears to have tapped into.

Said an agent who wished not to be identified: "How can an organization negotiate hundreds of millions of dollars of TV contracts and someone like Tiger or Rory goes out and has the same chance of making the same money as some guy who has come off the Korn Ferry Tour? There is no arbitration panel. And no judge would say that is a fair economic model."

Right or wrong, that has always been a successful model of the PGA Tour. Golf fans have enjoyed the democratic nature of the sport, including the occasional unknown taking down a star. In return, the star has benefited from the opportunity to play via endorsement income that the Tour does not see one penny of after giving them a platform.

But in recent years a few things have changed. The schedule is now year-round and the stars are increasingly asked to tee it up more, including “playoffs” after major season when they would like to be recharging their batteries. The top players are called up every year to play a Cup event. In return? A small donation to their pet cause and free merch they’ll never wear again.

With this added “inventory,” the sense of obligation to play has swollen to untenable levels in the eyes of the elite. Which is how we’ve gotten to this messy place where the Premier Golf League can come along and look attractive to top players by countering the current model.