Champions for Charity 2020: Recap

Champions for Charity 2020

Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning held off a late charge from Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady to claim a 1-up victory in the Champions for Charity Match.

Despite the tee times being delayed by 45 minutes due to the awful weather in Florida, over $20 million was raised for Covid-19 reliefs on what was an extremely enjoyable evening of golf.

How it Happened

With Samuel L. Jackson introducing the competitors on the first tee, it was a anticlimactic start for Manning, Brady and Mickelson who put their tee shots into the sand and shrubbery on the left; Woods being the only one to keep to the grass.

After halving the first two holes with pars, it was Woods who drew first blood with a birdie at the third. This was then followed up by another birdie on the fourth, this time by Manning.

Building on his impressive start, the 44-year-old retired quarterback produced yet another birdie, this time on the sixth hole, to take a 3-up lead.

The highlight of the match however was about to come. After struggling through the first six holes, Brady holed his fourth shot from 100 yards on the seventh; much to the dismay and shock of everyone around him, including the commentary team!

Despite Brady’s moment of magic, though, the score remained the same as they hit the back nine and the introduction of the Alternate Shot Format.

After halving the 10^th, it was time for Brady and Mickelson to claw their way back into the match. After a sublime drive on the short par 4 by Mickelson, Brady was left with a medium length putt, which he duly rolled in for an eagle.

With the momentum beginning to swing, Manning then missed a short putt on the 14^th; allowing Brady and Mickelson to close the gap to just one.

With four holes remaining, it was going down to the wire. With both teams hitting it to gimme range for birdie on the 16^th, a last hole show down was in sight.

It would be Woods and Manning, though, that would close out the victory with a solid par on the 18^th securing the win and, in the process, raising $20 million for charity.

Champion for Charity 2020: Highlights / Best Moments

The most memorable moment of the match definitely came from Tom Brady. The 42-year-old had rarely contributed during the first six holes of the match but, on the seventh, that was all about to change.

Critical of his performance, Brady was ruthlessly teased on Twitter; with Brooks Koepka tweeting: “I’ll donate $100k if Brady makes a par on this front 9”, and even commentator Charles Barkley joined in the mocking.

However, Brady dished out his revenge in devastating style, holing his fourth shot from 100 yards!

Another highlight was the incredible shot on the 11^th hole by 49-year-old Mickelson.

After Brady had put his tee shot into play, it gave Mickelson a free go at the green. This shot, which the golf pro described as a “salty bomb”, very nearly landed in the hole leaving a medium length putt for his partner, which Brady managed to hole.

One of the main features of the match was the players being mic’d up, which led to plenty of interaction and lots of funny highlights.

With two of the best golfers to ever play the game participating, we heard how their minds work whilst out on the course. An example was Mickelson explaining how to hit his chip shot on the second hole and very nearly holing it.

The addition of current Professional World No. 4 Justin Thomas was also a big highlight. Thomas, who knows all the competitors very well, picked up the role of on-course commentator very quickly and provided a lot of insightful chat, as well as plenty of humorous jabs at the players and commentator Charles Barkley.

Champion for Charity 2020: Summary

The match was extremely well received on social media, with many celebrities and professional sportsman commentating and donating throughout the night.

On a day where few people would have braved the monsoon conditions, we were treated to nearly five hours of humorous and insightful sport, with some good golf being played as well.

With the success of the match, golf has really set an outstanding precedent for how sport can be a force for good in dark times such as these.

We hope you enjoyed the article ‘Champions for Charity 2020: Recap.” How did you find the match? Let us know!

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