Dream golf pairings we'd love to see

This weekend, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson will tee off at Medalist Golf Club to compete in “The Match: Champions for Charity.”  

The celebrity golf match will raise money for COVID-19 relief and will pit Brady and Mickelson against Manning and Woods on Sunday.

That got us thinking about a few other famous golf aficionados who might be able to hang with the pros. Here are three more foursomes we’d love to see on the golf course.  

Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Jack Nicklaus, and John Daly

Imagine the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, squaring off against his old friend and former Space Jam costar, Charles Barkley.

The two don’t get along so well anymore, after Barkley criticized Jordan’s management of the Charlotte Bobcats, but this golf match could be the chance to bury the hatchet.

Jordan is allegedly a 1.9 handicap and opened his own golf club, The Grove XXIII, in Hobe Sound, Florida, in 2019. Barkley’s golf game isn’t on par with Jordan’s. The former Suns forward has been the butt of many jokes because of his golf swing, and he finished last in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship Tournament.

The banter between those two is what would make the match worth watching. Pair them up with one of the greatest golfers in history, Jack Nicklaus, and quirky two-time major champion John Daly, and there would be endless entertainment.  

Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka

Megastar musician Justin Timberlake once claimed he’d turn pro as a golfer by age 30. His career took a different turn, but it hasn’t affected his golf game too much. An alleged six handicap, Timberlake has played in the American Century Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He also purchased Big Creek Golf Course — in his hometown of Millington, Tennessee — in 2007 and transformed it into the eco-friendly Mirimichi Golf Course, which he sold in 2014.

His famous friend, Jimmy Fallon, isn’t good at golf, but he has collaborated with the pros, like Woods, on his late-night talk show.

Two of today’s golf greats and best friends, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, fill out this foursome nicely. Johnson and Koepka both hail from the South, like Timberlake, and Koepka is already acquaintances with Fallon, after they appeared in a Michelob Ultra commercial, which aired during Super Bowl LIV.

Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Murray, Bubba Watson, and Rickie Fowler

As busy an actor as Samuel L. Jackson is, he still manages to find time to hit the links. Playing around a six handicap, he is so dedicated to the game that he has it written in his film contracts that he is allowed to step away from set to play golf twice a week.

Jackson has participated in a variety of pro-am tournaments, and once told Dan Patrick he beat Woods back in the day at St. Andrew’s. Golf legend Arnold Palmer also complimented Jackson’s play at a Bob Hope Classic.

Another iconic actor, Bill Murray, is a regular at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He and his brothers also started their own annual event, the Murray Bros. Caddyshack Charity Golf Tournament, and a line of golf apparel under the label William Murray.

If Jackson and Murray teamed up for a match, they’d surely ham it up for the camera. Add in Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, one half of the “Golf Boys,” for one hilarious foursome we’d pay good money to watch. 

Find the latest odds on "The Match: Champions for Charity" at BetAmerica.