Charles Barkley slams Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s ‘crappy golf’
Former NBA legend Charles Barkley recently accused Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for playing ‘crappy golf’ while serving as commentator for their match. Charles Barkley is a former NBA All-Star player, and he holds many accolades, including an MVP award and eleven All-Star Team appearances. Tiger Woods is a professional golfer who won the Masters Tournament four times, the US Open three times, the Open Championship three times, and the PGA Championship four times. He has also been nominated for the PGA Player of the Year Award eleven times. Phil Mickelson is another professional golfer with many trophies to his name. From the outside, it seems that none of these athletes should be interacting with each other because of their different professions, but they were recently tangled in a golf-related bet.
It began when Woods returned to play golf a few months ago, having been injured for the past three years. As an old rival, Mickelson invited Woods to a match. During the game between the two golf giants, which was dubbed “The Match,” Charles Barkley was part of the commentator team. This position was not new to him, since he previously served as a commentator for NBA games on ESPN when he retired, and is known for his sense of humor and his outlandish bets on players. For example, he once bet that Yao Ming could never score up to 20 points in a game in his career, and that if he did, Barley promised that he will kiss a donkey’s behind. He ultimately lost the bet when Yao Ming scored 30 points against the Dallas Mavericks. During the golf match, he boldly claimed, “I just want you to know something America: this is some crappy golf, and y’all know that.” Furthermore, Barkley joked that he could beat Woods and Mickelson at a game of golf. Former professional golfer Paul Azinger responded to Barkley by stating, “Dear Charles Barkley, please come to F1, and I will give you a free golf lesson. If you aren’t fixed in 20 min, you can shave my head!” Justin Verlander, a pitcher in the MLB, posted on Twitter stating, “Barkley saying it’s not good golf… I wanna see Tiger and Phil throw down a challenge bet at him. 100k for double bogey or better on #1. C’mon Charles, I now you got your sticks with you. #TheMatch. ” Barkley accepted the challenge, agreeing to donate $100,000 to charity if he lost the bet. In the end, Mickelson defeated Woods after 22 holes, taking home the $9 million price.
Feature Image – Charles Barkley loves golfing, but he isn’t that good at it. Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
by Andy Kim