Tom Brady celebrates his hole-out on the seventh hole.
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On Wednesday, Tom Brady morphed into a Monday morning quarterback, writing an Instagram reflection on the lessons he learned at The Match II. Here are Brady’s nine takeaways from his experience on Sunday, and our nine takeaways from them.
1. “Amazing what happens when groups of people come together for the common good.”
The main group being the four-ball of Brady, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Peyton Manning, whose charitable outing generated more than $20 million for Covid-19 relief.
2. “Peyton is still as clutch as ever.”
Translation: Dear Mr. Manning, Would you be so kind as to have me as a guest at Augusta someday?
3. “I did not escape the inclement weather. . .heavy stuff . . ALL DAY.”
And this time, he didn’t have the ‘tuck rule’ to bail him out.
4. “I shouldn’t wear the same pants to golf that I wear to church.”
The Match II revealed Brady to be no different than the rest of us. He puts his pants on one leg at a time – and splits them, too.
5. “As great as @philmickelson is as a golfer, he is a better man, coach and teammate and potentially has the best calves on the PGA Tour.”
Yeah, but how fast does he run the 40?
6. “I really enjoy golf . . at halftime of football games we get checked for concussions, in golf, you get refreshments.”
And no one checks midway to see if the ball you’re playing is properly inflated.
7. “It was nice to be the young guy again.”
But less than eight years from now, he’ll be eligible for the Champions Tour.
8. “@tigerwoods was a great host and champion, and I was especially thankful he missed that putt on the 7th hole. . . had he made it, I would have just went home.”
Woods’ lipped-out bid for eagle was the golf equivalent of a Hail Mary off Gronk’s fingertips. So it goes. With two guys accustomed to breaking their opponents’ hearts, something had to give.
9. “I’m sticking to my day job.”
At a reported $50 million for two years, with $9 million in incentives, seems like a wise move.
A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.