Two years ago, the original “Capital One’s The Match” brought golf back into the Thanksgiving spotlight after the retirement of the Skins Game a decade earlier with Phil Mickelson beating Tiger Woods for a winner-take-all $9 million payday at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. When the franchise is revived once more on Friday in the Arizona desert with the “Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change,” it won’t be quite as cut-throat—the focus of the event is to help raise money and awareness for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. But it could prove even more entertaining as Mickelson returns with NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley as his teammate. The duo will face another basketball legend, Stephen Curry, and a soon-to-be pro football Hall of Famer in Peyton Manning.
Here’s what you need to know about the event, including how to watch it on TV or streaming online.
The Teams
The two-man teams for “Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change” are Phil Mickelson/Charles Barkley and Stephen Curry/Peyton Manning.
The Location
The event is taking place at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Ariz., just north of Tucson. The course is owned by Mickelson Golf Properties, sits at the base of the Tortolita Mountains and offers views of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no fans in attendance at the event.
The Format
The format for the event is an 18-hole match using a Modified Alternate shot, which some may know as the Pinehurst format. In this format, each team member hits a tee shot, which every golfer hits a tee shot, and the teams will pick the best tee shot. The player whose shot isn’t used must hit the next shot. Then they’ll alternate from there until the ball is holed.
The event’s main charitable mission is to contribute toward and highlight diversity, equality and inclusion at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). WarnerMedia will make donations to Morehouse College, Howard University, Alabama A&M, Hampton University and Winston-Salem State University, primarily helping to fund golf or sports journalism programs. Additionally, the four golfers have selected Jackson State (Mickelson), Tuskegee (Barkley) and Howard (Curry), along with Grambling State, Southern University at New Orleans and Lane College (Manning), to be the recipients of their donations.
As with previous iterations of The Match, there will be a series of on-course challenge that will help drive additional funds to HBCUs. Officials have kept the specifics on these quiet. At this point, what’s known is that for each of the holes with challenges there will be a minimum of $100,000 on the line and up to $2.5 million donated if a golfer is able to make a hole-in-one.
The Match will be broadcast live on TNT on Friday, Nov. 27, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Brian Anderson will be the play-by-play announcer along with color commentary from former Masters winner Trevor Immelman and NBA star Andre Iguodala. Gary McCord and Cheyenne Woods will work as on-course reporters. Special guests will make appearances, joining the telecast via Cisco Webex.
Live companion content—including an originally produced “Cart Cam” stream—will be available through Bleacher Report and the B/R app. It will be hosted by Taylor Rooks with Eli Manning as the on-course, in-cart correspondent.
At 2 p.m., TNT will air “Capital One’s The Match Pre-Match Show,” which will break down the event, the four competitors and the HBCUs that they’ll be raising money for. Cari Champion will host the one-hour program with Eli Manning and Michelle Wie West.
The good news: There is no threat of rain in the forecast for the Arizona desert on Friday, which is much appreciated after the intermittent showers that hampered the second edition of “The Match” franchise, held in May at Medalist in Florida.
The bad news: The temperatures aren’t looking very desert like. Weather.com has it being only 57 degrees at the start with the thermometer barely rising the rest of the afternoon. Roughly 5 mph winds are forecasted.