The Match has become an annual fixture on golf fan's calendars, alongside the biggest PGA Tour tournaments and the four major golf tournaments. And 2023 is not going to be breaking that tradition, as details for The Match 2023 have been announced, including the foursome set to square off on the links.
What has made The Match (or, as it is officially known, Capital One's The Match) such a fun event since its inception in the early days of the pandemic is that it takes golfers closer to the action than ever before with the golfers mic'd up, features fantastic commentary, including from Charles Barkley ribbing the participants (and them back to him) and a general sense of fun as the big winner are the charities that The Match raises money for.
The competitors for The Match 2023 aren't professional golfers, but are champions in their own right, so they definitely still want to win. Plus, it can make it fun to watch golfers who aren’t quite PGA Tour quality show what they got.
We've got everything that you need to know about The Match 2023 right here.
The Match 2023 time
The Match 2023 is going to tee it up on Thursday, June 29, with coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT. The exact time that the participants are going to tee off was not specified.
The Match 2023 channel
The Match is going to air exclusively on TNT. However, if you're interested in additional supporting content, the Bleacher Report app has expansive coverage plans leading up to and during The Match.
At this time we do not have any information on where The Match is going to air for UK audiences.
The Match 2023 golfers
As we said, the four golfers for The Match 2023 are champions, and recent ones at that. The two teams are going to consist of two members each from the reigning Super Bowl and NBA champions: Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.
Both Mahomes and Curry have previously played in The Match once before, but both are looking for their first win in the event; Mahomes played in 2022 with Josh Allen, losing to the team of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, while Curry played in 2020 alongside Peyton Manning, losing to Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley.
For the golf nuts wondering, here is the most recent data we were able to find out about the golf handicaps (a metric for judging how good they are, the lower the better) for the four participants:
Steph Curry: 0.1 (per 2023 USA Today article)
Patrick Mahomes: 7.7 (per 2022 Golf.com article)
Travis Kelce: 11 (per 2022 Golf.com article)
Klay Thompson: 12 (per 2023 Golf.com article)
Charles Barkley commentary
One consistent presence at The Match has been NBA and broadcasting legend Charles Barkley providing commentary. Barkley is an avid golf fan and infamously bad golfer. In fact, one version of The Match paired him and Phil Mickelson against Peyton Manning and Seth Curry; Manning and Curry were actually favored over pro golfer Mickelson because of Barkley's reputation, but Sir Charles and Lefty won.
It has not been officially announced that Barkley will once again take part in The Match broadcast, but he certainly has become a fixture of it, so we expect that to be the case.
How to watch The Match 2023
TNT is going to the exclusive TV home for The Match 2023. This means that your viewing options include traditional pay-TV services that carry TNT or live TV streaming services that feature the cable network as part of their channel lineup, which includes Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.
If you’re looking for some additional coverage, the sports app Bleacher Report is going to have extensive coverage leading up to The Match 2023 on its platform. All you need to access that is download the Bleacher Report app.
Where is The Match 2023?
The Match 2023 is going to take place at the Wynn Golf Club at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, which is located on the Las Vegas strip. It previously was the location for 2021’s The Match event between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
The Match 2023 format
Like always, The Match is going to be a match play event, with this year’s outing consisting of 12 holes. The exact format has not been shared — best ball, alternate shot — nor has any of the special challenges for the event been announced at this time.
The Match charity
The specific charities The Match 2023 are going to be supporting have not been announced.
To date, Capital One's The Match has reportedly raised $35 million for various organizations and donated more than 27 million meals to Feeding America.
The Match winners
Here are the winners (in bold) of the previous editions of The Match:
- Match 1: Tiger vs Phil — Phil Mickelson
- Match 2: Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning vs Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady — Woods/Manning
- Match 3: Phil Mickleson/Charles Barkley vs Steph Curry/Peyton Manning — Mickelson/Barkley
- Match 4: Bryson DeChambeau/Aaron Rodgers vs Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady — DeChambeau/Rodgers
- Match 5: Bryson DeChanbeau vs Brooks Koepka — Bryson DeChambeau
- Match 6: Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers vs Josh Allen/Patrick Mathomes — Brady/Rodgers
- Match 7: Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas vs Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy — Spieth/Thomas
