Tiger-Phil starrer match to bring $10m in relief

CANBERRA (Agencies): Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are set for a May 24 charity showdown that will include their NFL star buddies Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and a $10 million donation to coronavirus relief efforts.

“The Match: Champions for Charity” will be played at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, broadcaster Turner Sports said Thursday. Woods, a 15-time major champion and reigning Masters champion, will team with Manning, a star quarterback who retired in 2016 after winning his second Super Bowl title.

Five-time major winner Mickelson will team with Brady, who recently signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after winning six Super Bowl titles in 20 years with the New England Patriots. The 18-hole match will include nine holes of four-ball and nine holes of modified alternate shot in a format “aimed to provide an entertaining mix of strategy, team collaboration and consequence to nearly every shot,” Turner Sports said.

No fans will be in attendance, but Turner Sports said all of the players would wear microphones throughout, enabling them to connect with each other and broadcast commentators. As part of the competitive play, there will also be a set of on-course challenges for charitable funds in addition to the $10 million that the players have pledged.

The funds will go to organizations working to assist those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Beneficiaries include DirectRelief.org, which equips health workers with supplies, the American Red Cross, the grant-making initiative Save Small Business and the food distribution charity All In Challenge.

The event, which has been in the works for weeks, follows the made-for-TV clash of Woods and Mickelson in Las Vegas in 2018, which Mickelson won on the fourth playoff hole.

This year’s event comes with sports fans around the world hungry for live action to watch amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The US PGA Tour isn’t set to resume play until the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Texas on June 11.