If you’re looking for some quality entertainment bridging several pro sports while you’re relaxing after Thanksgiving, golf has you covered. On Friday, November, 27, PGA Tour legend Phil Mickelson will team up with NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to play Warriors great Steph Curry and former NFL star Peyton Manning in a golf match for charity. Here’s everything you need to know to watch The Match 3.
The Match 3 preview
This week’s exhibition match, known officially as Capitol One’s The Match: Champions for Change, is actually the third edition of the event. The first pitted Mickelson against Tiger Woods in a one-on-one grudge match at famed Shadow Creek in Las Vegas back in 2018. Phil won bragging rights in that inaugural match.
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Last year, the event morphed into a team match. Tiger partnered with Peyton Manning to defeat Phil and Tom Brady at Medalist in Florida. The event proved popular, more so because the second edition featured Charles Barkley in the booth actively trash-talking and ribbing the competitors.
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For this week’s event, Barkley is leaving the studio to join the action directly. The popular NBA star-turned-TV analyst will hitch his fortune (and his infamous, halting swing) to Mickelson’s cart, with Manning and new addition Curry playing the role of opponents. The banter will no doubt be the highlight, especially when Barkley starts throwing out his famously hilarious quips, but the golf won’t be a complete sideshow: Curry, for example, is an accomplished player who has played in two Korn Ferry Tour events.
The star-studded foursome will test their sills at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Arizona, a course owned by Phil Mickelson’s company and one that Barkley is familiar with. Fortunately, all the action will be televised for your enjoyment. Here’s what you need to know to watch The Match 3 on TV.
How to watch The Match 3 on TV
The third edition of the Match: Champions for Change will air Friday, November 27, on TNT beginning at 3 p.m. ET, with pre-match coverage starting at 2 p.m. ET. TNT was the TV home for the first two matches, and its coverage received rave reviews. Bleacher Report will provide additional coverage through its app.
Once again, all four players will be mic’d up, so fans will get to hear everything they say to each other on the course, which will no doubt include plenty of trash talk and laughs. The players’ ear pieces will also connect to the broadcast team, so they can ask questions throughout the round. In addition “Cart Cam” will give viewers a peak inside the carts as the players drive and talk their way around the course.
How The Match 3 will work
The format for the Match 3 will be modified alternate shot match play, so at some point we’ll likely get to see Mickelson have to rescue a mishit from Barkley.
The charity element of this week’s event has a singular focus. It will highlight and support “diversity, equality and inclusion through donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), while raising awareness and spotlighting opportunities for diversity and equality in sports,” according to an official press release.