Apr 22, 2020
Bob HarigESPN Senior Writer
A Tiger Woods- Phil Mickelson golf match involving football legends Peyton Manning and Tom Brady is planned for May, according to Turner Sports.
"The Match: Champions for Charity" will benefit coronavirus relief. The event will air live on TNT -- possibly Memorial Day weekend -- at an undisclosed location without spectators.
Mickelson tweeted out the apparent pairings.
"After feeling the sting of defeat the first time around, Looks like @TigerWoods is bringing a ringer to The Match (#PeytonManning)," wrote Mickelson, who then added he's bringing Brady, using a GOAT emoji.
Brady jumped into the fray Thursday on social media, saying he's "been waiting 4 years to get a rematch with Peyton ... expecting a better result this time around."
Never had much of a hard time beating the colts or a tiger, don't see this time being much different... https://t.co/dNP3rphybt pic.twitter.com/jBXeg3UGXs
- Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 23, 2020
Brady was referring to his 20-18 loss to the Manning's Broncos in the AFC Championship game in January 2016. Overall, the quarterbacks faced each other five time in the NFL playoffs, with Manning having a 3-2 edge.
A firm date and location for the match have not been decided, although a source told ESPN that it is expected to be held in Florida. Turner Sports said event organizers are working with state and local government and public health officials to ensure the event follows safety and health protocols.
"There was talks about doing it all along anyway," Manning told 104.3 The Fan in Denver earlier Wednesday concerning speculation about the event before it was announced. "And now, to have a chance to have a major fundraising event for COVID-19 relief, almost like a telethon, if you will ... If that can take place, I'm all-in for that."
The PGA Tour, which would need to approve any event in which its players participate that is televised or streamed, said it has yet to sign off and "is still working to ensure health and safety concerns, among other things.''
Steve Loy, Mickelson's agent, told ESPN: "I wish I could say more, other than four Hall of Famers competing and creating tremendous value and awareness to help others in need for this all-in charity event.''
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is in favor of getting sports back amid the coronavirus pandemic, said he would support the event.
"I'd like to see Woods and Mickelson do the golf, or whatever, because that's social distance,'' DeSantis said April 15. "You 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."
A match involving these four participants has been in the works for some time, but it was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown of sports last month.
The PGA Tour has not held an event since the Players Championship was canceled following the first round on March 12. It has since released a revised schedule with the hopes of starting June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
The first four events in the schedule -- the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage, the Travelers Championship and the Rocket Mortgage Classic -- would be played without spectators.
Numerous obstacles remain for those events to take place, including the go-ahead from government agencies and medical officials. The PGA Tour has also said it wants to see widespread virus testing in place so that participants can be tested before arriving and during the course of a tournament week.
"We see changes and developments being made in the world of testing, available tests,'' said Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour's chief tournament and competitions officer, in a conference call last week announcing the revised schedule. "We're following very closely through the assistance of our expert medical advisers the development of more large-scale testing capabilities, more rapid-response-type tests, whether it's through finger pricks, testing for antibodies.
"We obviously are aware that the FDA recently approved use of a saliva-based test. It gives us confidence that we will be able to develop a strong testing protocol that will mitigate risk as much as we possibly can. We know that there will also be further developments over the next eight weeks before we were to resume play.''
Two years ago, Woods and Mickelson signed on to play "The Match,'' a ''winner-take-all'' 18-hole event in Las Vegas on the day after Thanksgiving. The event was supposed to be streamed, although there were numerous technical issues involved. Mickelson won the $9 million first prize.
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