Phil Mickelson, hot off his sixth major win at the 2021 PGA Championship last week, will be the preeminent golf star in another edition of "The Match" exhibition series. Lefty and Tom Brady will square off against Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers in the latest celebrity golf event on Sunday, July 6 at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana.
Previously, Mickelson played solo against Tiger Woods in the first version of "The Match" before joining Brady to face Woods and Peyton Manning this time last year. In the fall, Mickelson joined forces with Charles Barkley as they beat Stephen Curry and Manning.
The format remains familiar. The four golfers will play modified alternate shot match play as players will be mic'd up throughout the event. One wrinkle this time around is that the golf course is at 7,500 feet of elevation, which means DeChambeau will be attempting 450-yard drives throughout. There's a 777-yard par-5 hole where he will likely try to drive the green.
Two old guys against the young bucks @PhilMickelson. @b_dechambeau better get used to laying up because we know @AaronRodgers12 isn’t going for it 🤣 https://t.co/f1DQsFn41U
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 26, 2021
Rodgers is a good player. He's slated to play in the celebrity-filled American Century Championship in July, and he finished 16th there last year (behind Curry). Rodgers teamed with Max Homa to finish ninth at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His game is likely sturdier than Brady's right now, and the team of Rodgers and DeChambeau will almost certainly be the favorites going into the event.
Regardless, the entire thing will be a ton of fun. The first one with Mickelson and Woods was stiff at times, but Mickelson is always better out of Woods' shadow where he feels more comfortable holding court on his turf and can be the biggest dog in the room. Even more so given that he will be one of the two most recent major championship winners by the time this match rolls around.
One interesting note here is how many more titles the team of Brady and Mickelson have compared to their opponennts. Rodgers and DeChambeau are two of the best on the planet in their respective sports, and they trail the major/Super Bowl count 13-2. Thirteen to two! You can bet that will be discussed when these four tee it up in Montana in just over a month from now, and you can bet Mickelson will be the one to bring it up.
