As good a basketball player as Charles Barkley was during his long NBA career, he never won a championship. Thus, today’s victory in the televised golf showdown known as The Match was extra sweet.
Barkley and pro golfer Phil Mickelson were easy winners over opponents Stephen Curry of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and retired Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning in the third iteration of The Match on Friday in Arizona.
Entering the showdown, Barkley was considered a longshot to come out on top. His basketball talents notwithstanding, he is widely known as a poor golfer, something frequently joked about on the TNT show. But Mickelson and Barkley easily won the modified alternate shot match play exhibition 4&3 at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona.
All of the participants wore a microphone. After taking a 4-up lead through seven holes, Barkley sent a message, telling the audience to get re-runs of television crime drama Law & Order ready in “about five more holes.”
Mickelson-Barkley lost the next hole and then NBA All-Star and Basketball Hall of Famer Barkley shanked his tee shot at the ninth. But the duo were 3-up at the turn, and closed out the match with a birdie at the 15th hole, which they halved as Manning also drained his birdie putt.
The event was closed to the public because of COVID-19, and served as a fundraiser for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
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