Just as in many football games the participating quarterbacks have played in, the sixth annual The Match charity golf event came down to the last possible play.
Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers just edged out Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen on Wednesday in The Match at the Wynn Golf Club near the Las Vegas Strip. After trading leads multiple times throughout the match, Rodgers sank the final putt to clinch the win for him and Brady. It was the second year in a row in which Rodgers made the game-winning putt for his team.
Both Brady and Rodgers competed in last year's iteration of The Match, albeit on opposing teams. Rodgers played that iteration with PGA Tour star Bryson DeChambeau and came out on top, but this year the quarterbacks teamed up to grab the win.
Mahomes and Allen have often found themselves at odds on the football field over the last few years, but paired up on Wednesday and gave Brady and Rodgers a run for their money before ultimately falling short.
The four quarterbacks played 12 holes of a match-play, modified format. Match-play scoring means whichever team has the best score on an individual hole earns a point, with tied holes not counting toward the overall score. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the 12 holes wins the match.
There was much trash talk in the weeks leading up to the matchup, especially jokes about it being a battle of old school versus new school. Allen and Mahomes are each 26, while Brady and Rodgers have an average age of 41.
The roasts continued throughout the match, including jokes made through the equipment used. Allen decided to use a golf ball printed with Brady's NFL Combine photo from 2000, which Brady has famously expressed dislike for. In turn, Brady used a golf ball featuring a picture of a Lombardi trophy.
"Josh, you haven't seen one of these," Brady said to the camera while showing off the golf ball.
Allen is the only one of the four QBs without a Super Bowl ring or AP NFL Most Valuable Player honors.
There were some wild swings over the course of the afternoon, and the players had to yell out "Fore!" multiple times as the onlookers ducked to avoid wayward shots. But both teams settled down, and with it all tied up going into the 12th hole, the trash talk stopped and it was all business. Allen almost made a putt from the opposite side of the green to take the lead, but the ball stopped an inch short of the hole. That opened the door for Rodgers, who made his birdie putt and secured the 4-3 victory.
"I felt really good about it, to be honest. Tommy gave me a great read ... and I felt good about the line when I hit it and knew it was going in," Rodgers said. "Tom and I, about four holes ago, we got pretty serious and we buckled down a bit because (Allen and Mahomes) were playing really good and we didn't want to come out here with an L."
