The Match IX had no scarcity of commentary.
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The ninth version of The Match delivered no scarcity of smack discuss, heroics, zingers and traditional Charles Barkley antics.
All of these issues simply barely made up for the extra of DJ Khaled.
In the finish, after the final 4 skins of the 12-hole match have been pushed to a closing gap closest to the pin problem, Rory McIlroy hit a dart to 4-feet-2-inches to web $1.9 million to be donated to the First Tee in his identify. Lexi Thompson completed second with $200,000 for profitable the first two skins, whereas Rose Zhang and Max Homa every did not win a pores and skin.
However, the best half of The Match is what occurs in between photographs because it’s one of the few occasions we get to listen to the best gamers mic’d up whereas they’re on the course for the entirety of a spherical.
With that, right here have been the best moments from The Match IX. Editor’s word: This article can have no additional point out of DJ Khaled’s appearances on the broadcast.
Rory’s fall
Things obtained off to a sizzling begin when McIlroy pushed his opening tee shot to the proper. It ended up settling in between a sod appear on high of the lip of a bunker.
As quickly as McIlroy tried to take his stance, he instantly fell backward into the bunker predicting his personal
“That looked like Charles earlier,” TNT Analyst Trevor Immelman mentioned, referring to Barkley’s match earlier in the day on a par 3 the place he struggled in the sand.
McIlroy shortly jumped out of the bunker and punched the shot down the fairway. But issues didn’t get a lot better for him as he overcooked his draw and his ball ended up proper at Zhang’s ft.
“Hi ladies!” McIlroy mentioned.
“Don’t worry Rory, you’ll get to the ladies’ tee shots eventually,” mentioned analyst Christina Kim.
“Good start!”
Barkley takes photographs at Shaq
It didn’t take lengthy for Sir Charles to get began on smack discuss towards individuals who couldn’t even defend themselves.
Zhang had simply given a shoutout to her former Stanford teammate Aline Krauter, a German LPGA professional, after she noticed her round the inexperienced.
Kim added that Krauter had taught her the phrase for hippopotamus in German, Nilpferd.
“I know a hippopotamus, he works on TNT on Thursday nights,” Barkley mentioned, tossing shade at his Inside the NBA cohost Shaquille O’Neal.
Lexi’s high-five prowess
After the gamers pushed the first pores and skin, Thompson earned the carry-over on the 2nd gap by draining a protracted eagle putt from off the inexperienced at the drivable par-4.
But maybe a extra spectacular present of athleticism was her easily high-fiving Zhang, switching to a fist-bump for Homa after which flipping again for a high-five to McIlroy.
“I didn’t know how coordinated I was,” Thompson joked.
Fore?
This 12 months’s Match was performed beneath the lights at The Park in West Palm Beach, however even with all the floodlights in South Florida, it might probably nonetheless be robust to see precisely the place your ball goes.
Such was the case for Max Homa on the 4th gap.
In a one-club problem on gap 4, Homa, having chosen a 7-wood, hooked his tee shot right into a deep waste bunker.
But when he hit his second towards the inexperienced, he didn’t actually know the place it went.
“I mean … fore?” Homa requested with a shrug. “FORE! I have no idea.”
Luckily, Homa’s second shot missed left, however Kim put him relaxed.
“Don’t worry Max, you didn’t quite get to anybody up there,” she mentioned.
“OK, thank goodness.”
Chuck enjoying lit
While short-term floodlights have been arrange on The Park’s 18-hole golf course, the facility additionally has a nine-hole course that at all times has lights.
It’s referred to as the “Lit 9.” Barkley appeared drawn to the title.
“For the record, I’ve played the nine holes lit many a time,” he joked.
Charles Barkley, golf broadcasting critic
On the sixth gap, McIlroy missed the par-5 inexperienced along with his second shot in a greenside bunker which led Immelman to ship a standard golf broadcast line.
“He’s far enough up there, if he gets on the upslope, he’ll be OK,” Immelman, CBS’s common lead analyst mentioned.
Barkley was fast to take concern.
“I hate when you guys say that on TV, Trevor,” he mentioned. “Like if it’s on the upslope it’s an easy bunker shot. That drives me nuts”
“It is if you got Rory McIlroy’s talent,” Immelman quipped again.
“We’re amateurs. We stink. Most amateurs stink. There’s no easy golf shot,” Barkley continued.
“Well if you hit in there, I would have said, Charles is dead right here. He’s got no chance. But that’s Rory McIlroy.”
Sure sufficient, McIlroy delivered, knocking the brief bunker shot in tight and making the putt for his third and fourth skins of the night.
“As Trevor said, I got it far enough up in the bunker where even Chuck could have gotten it up and down,” McIlroy joked.
Rose’s course load
Zhang was making her first aggressive look since the LPGA season-opening Tournament of Champions in January. She revealed Monday night time was the first time she been on a golf course in a month as she continues a heavy, 20-credit course load at Stanford whereas balancing skilled golf.
“I’m hitting by miles!” Zhang mentioned after her hit it over the eighth inexperienced.
“In fairness, you’ve been in class a lot,” Barkley mentioned.
In reality, Zhang is headed proper again to class Tuesday and she or he lands again in California at 3:30 a.m. P.T. earlier than her 9 a.m. COMM 104W class.
Max Homa upsets his mother
Despite opening with birdies on the first three holes, Homa had but to web a pores and skin by the eighth gap.
However, he earned $100k by having the closest strategy at the eighth gap, however he ran his par effort about 4 ft by.
“Rory is going to make me putt that,” Homa mentioned as the ball scooted by the cup.
“I am going to make you putt that,” McIlroy replied, having already secured a par, with Zhang and Thompson having mid-range par efforts.
But the LPGA execs obtained Homa to hit his tester first.
“You guys are bad people,” Homa mentioned. “My mom is watching. Could you imagine this, my mom is gonna watch me three-putt from 15 feet?”
He psyched himself out. His putt motored over the excessive lip.
“Pressure is on you guys now,” Homa instructed Thompson and Zhang as they needed to make their par efforts to keep away from handing two extra skins to McIlroy.
They each missed.
“I’m not going to go to sleep,” Homa mentioned.
Max goes lefty
On the very subsequent gap, Homa hooked his drive, sufficient to surprise if he ought to shout fore once more.
“Don’t worry about it Max, there ain’t no people over there,” Barkley mentioned as Homa’s ball discovered a bush.
Homa discovered the ball, but it surely didn’t depart a lot of a shot.
He managed to get it out of the bush, however Homa rising from it left us with one of the lasting pictures from The Match IX.
Rory’s dagger
After all 4 gamers made birdie on the par-5 twelfth, there was a closest-to-the-pin problem to settle the closing 4 skins.
McIlroy wasted little time, hitting the 100-yard shot first, throwing it proper at the flag and stopping it simply 4 ft away.
McIlroy mentioned he took an additional membership on the shot to keep away from it spinning again too far.
“That’s a great tip,” Barkley mentioned.
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