Manning against Brady? Phil vs Tiger? It may happen at a coronavirus golf tourney
Sports fans may get to see former NFL quarterback extraordinaire Peyton Manning in something other than Nationwide commercials. In fact, they may get to see him back in action and facing off against his old nemesis: Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady.
Only, they won’t be on a football field.
The NFL legends may be joining golf superstars Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods on the golf course in a match put together by AT&T’s WarnerMedia and the PGA Tour. CNBC reported that this unique match will take place as soon as next month.
Meanwhile, Mickelson said he was “working on it” when asked about a potential showdown against Woods while social distancing, as reported by ESPN.
“A Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match that would include other players has been in the works for some time,” according to ESPN, “but the coronavirus pandemic has put scheduling such an event on hold and it has yet to receive PGA Tour approval.”
Golf journalist Robert Lusetich dropped the news on Twitter on Monday that the NFL stars’ names were being thrown around.
Golf.com reported that the match would take place “with Tom Brady playing with one of the golfers and Peyton Manning playing with the other.”
“By personality type, you would think that Manning and Mickelson would be a natural pairing, as they are both talkative extroverts,” the outlet reported. “But Woods has played with Manning before, including the pro-am round at last year’s Memorial tournament. There is a comfort level between them.”
With professional sports being suspended all over the world thanks to COVID-19, this will be a rare treat for fans.
Not only is the match rumored to put Mickelson/Brady up against Woods/Manning, officials who are overseeing the match are planning to include multiple NFL, PGA, and NBA stars in the event as well, including TNT studio analyst and basketball great Charles Barkley, for commentary, as reported by CNBC.
While the match will be held without fans, the athletes and production crew will abide by the social-distancing rule of keeping a six-foot barrier distance between each other, per CNBC. But will that be enough?
In March, federal agencies recommended that no social gathering should exceed more than 10 people in one place. Chances are this event will feature a sizable crowd even without fans present. While this will take place on an undisclosed golf course where the stars will be able to keep their distance from each other, it will still break the 10-person rule.
If the event does in fact take place in May, this means they’re hoping that the social-gathering rules are more relaxed by then. And if they are, this could possibly turn out to be the sporting event of the year.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Manning against Brady? Phil vs Tiger? It may happen at a coronavirus golf tourney."