The Match: Champions for Charity - Odds, Picks, & Betting Predictions
Last Updated: 05/12/2020 at 9:53 AM ET
The stage has been set. On Memorial Day weekend, The Match: Champions for Charity, an 18-hole event to raise money for relief efforts involving the Coronavirus, features the team of Tiger Woods and former NFL star Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and 6-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. The showdown will take place at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe South, Florida on May 24th.
After the announcement of the event was made, the team of Woods and Manning opened as -175 favorites on most sportsbooks in Las Vegas and across the Internet while Mickelson and Brady opened at +150. Nine holes of the event will be best ball and nine holes will be modified alternate-shot. Woods, Mickelson, Brady and Manning are set to donate a combined $10 million to the Covid-19 relief efforts.
Woods and Mickelson are two of golf's most popular players in the history of the sport and Manning while playing and Brady, who continues to play, have always been NFL fan favorites. Woods and Mickelson have combined to win 20 golf majors while Manning and Brady have combined to win eight Super Bowls. Although all four players are used to playing in front of huge crowds, the event on May 24 will be played without any spectators due to the current Coronavirus outbreak.
Sportsbooks have also released several different prop bets that are available for the event such as which team will make the most birdies. That prop bet has Mickelson and Brady as the -115 favorite thanks to the excellent short game by Mickelson and his all-or-nothing type of play that lends itself to a slew of birdies each time the left-hander plays. During the shortened 2019-20 PGA golf season, Mickelson averaged just fewer than four birdies per round and in 2018-19 finished the season sixth with an average of 4.3 birdies per round.
Although Woods is considered by most to be the best golf player in the history of the sport, Tiger does not usually excel in specialized formats such as this event. In nine events made for TV, Woods is 4-5 dating back to the Showdown at Sherwood in 1999 against David Duval. However, Woods has played much better golf over the last 12 to 18 months than has Mickelson and will carry his team, aided by a few excellent shots by teammate Manning, to the victory on Memorial Day Weekend.
