Carmen Mandato/Getty Images for The Match
Tom Brady’s illustrious resume finally includes a win at Capital One’s The Match, and he has Aaron Rodgers to thank for it.
The third time was a charm for the seven-time Super Bowl champion, who teamed up with Rodgers to defeat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in Wednesday’s showdown at Wynn Golf Course in Las Vegas.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback sunk a birdie putt on the final hole to win The Match in its most pressure-packed moment.
It was the sixth edition of the event, and Brady is now 1-2 after he and Phil Mickelson previously lost to Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning in the second edition and Bryson DeChambeau and Rodgers in the fourth edition.
The latest version of The Match was the first one that didn’t include PGA stars. Instead, it was just the quarterbacks in a battle between the old guard of Brady and Rodgers and the rising stars in Mahomes and Allen in a 12-hole match play format.
All four players teed off on every hole, and each team then picked their best drive. They each played their own ball from wherever those best drives were, and the lowest individual score won the hole for his team.
Each player was also limited to one mulligan, but there were no restrictions on trash talking.
Allen started before the competition even began, thanks to an infamous picture of his opponent. Brady had some trouble finding the first tee box but didn’t struggle to return the quips:
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
Josh Allen is using a golf ball with Tom Brady’s combine photo on it ???? <a href=”https://twitter.com/brgridiron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@brgridiron</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CapitalOnesTheMatch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CapitalOnesTheMatch</a> <a href=”https://t.co/l3M9ZvUoQP”>pic.twitter.com/l3M9ZvUoQP</a>
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
“Josh, have you seen one of these?” ????<br><br>Brady wasting no time with the trash talk <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CapitalOnesTheMatch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CapitalOnesTheMatch</a> <a href=”https://t.co/nFEYDIM16w”>pic.twitter.com/nFEYDIM16w</a>
Brady may be responsible for seven of the Lombardi Trophies pictured on his golf ball, but he relied on his teammate from the start of Wednesday’s match.
Rodgers set the tone when he unleashed a beautiful drive, perfectly placed approach shot and clutch birdie putt on the first hole. The veterans then jumped out to a two-hole lead when Brady’s second shot on the par-five second found the green.
Yet Mahomes countered with some “swing juice” and cracked open an adult beverage, which seemed to help as his team rallied and tied it up by taking two of the next three holes. The Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller stood out on the fifth as his second shot hit the green while everyone else shanked their approach.
That was just the start of Mahomes takeover mode.
The four-time Pro Bowler bailed Allen out with a clutch putt to square the hole after the Buffalo Bills quarterback wasted his mulligan on the sixth. Mahomes then won the long drive challenge on No. 7 and the closest to the pin challenge on No. 8 and gave his team its first lead of the match by parlaying that shot on No. 8 into a birdie.
He even drained a pressure putt to halve the ninth after Rodgers talked trash before the stroke.
Still, Brady and Rodgers wouldn’t have seven combined MVP awards if they didn’t know how to make a comeback.
It was the Packers signal-caller who played the role of clutch hero Wednesday by driving the green on the short par four 10th to help his side tie the match and then put his tee shot on the green on the par-three 12th.
All four golfers had a putt for birdie on that final hole, but only Rodgers drained his to clinch victory at The Match.
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