No. 8 (par 3, 170 yards)
On a scenic par 3 with water guarding the front and right sides of the green, Allen plays first and takes an aggressive line with a cut shape. The ball lands on the right side of the green and settles on the fringe, just 20 or so feet for birdie.
Mahomes starts his tee shot at the left side of the green and asks for it to cut. It does indeed. The ball feeds off a slope and continues to move closer to the hole, settling just 6 feet away. Mahomes shimmies his shoulders in appreciation, before pointing to the camera with a look of determination and appreciation.
Brady turns his hat backwards before playing a draw toward the back-left portion of the green, the ball feeding off the slope and creeping toward the hole, settling some 15 feet away for birdie.
Rodgers plays a fade and immediately leans anxiously, the ball finding a watery grave.
With both teams eyeing a birdie look, Brady plays first; he judges the speed well but plays the ball slightly too much outside left. The par is conceded.
Facing a nothing-to-lose birdie proposition, Rodgers gives the putt plenty of pace, but it slides by on the left side. Brady/Rodgers records par, leaving the door open for Allen/Mahomes to take its first lead of the evening.
Mahomes takes advantage with a center-cut birdie and a fist pump of authority.
Allen/Mahomes 1 up thru 8
No. 7 (par 5, 520 yards)
Allen pulls driver and plays a high cut; he knows immediately that it has cut too much. The ball sails into a patch of shrubbery to the right of the fairway.
Mahomes takes driver and produces a low stinger that splits the right side of the fairway, well positioned.
After a series of tee shots to the left, Brady perhaps overcompensates; his ball follows that of Allen, well right of the fairway.
Rodgers takes driver and hits a low cut that fades well right of the fairway, bounding off a cart path and settling on the cart path.
Rodgers takes relief from the cart path but is still blocked out by a tree line; he confers with his teammate and strategizes to play a conservative layup shot with a wedge. Brady lays up into the rough just left of the fairway; Rodgers finds a fairway bunker on his layup.
After Mahomes’ scintillating drive, Allen/Mahomes has a chance to give the green a go in two. Mahomes plays first and plays a high cut with a long iron, the ball missing the green just to the right, in an area of light rough. Allen tugs his second shot well to the left of the green; he is immediately displeased.
From a tricky spot in the fairway bunker, Rodgers is unable to advance his third shot all the way to the green; it settles in the front fringe, some 50 feet from the hole. Brady plays his third to the center of the green, leaving 25 feet up the hill for birdie.
On his third shot, Allen plays a punch shot through some trouble and judges it beautifully; the ball bounces through the rough, onto the green and releases just 10 feet past the hole.
Rodgers’ pitch from the front of the green carries too much zip; the ball races some 20 feet past the hole, leaving a lengthy par-saving try.
Mahomes takes a line well right of the hole on his eagle chip, attempting to utilize a ridge. The ball rides the ridge and settles 10 feet past the hole, joining his teammate Allen with a reasonable birdie look.
Brady’s right-to-left birdie try tracks toward the cup but runs out of gas just inches shy. His par is conceded, leaving Allen/Mahomes with two chances to win the hole and hold a Match lead for the first time.
Neither can convert. Allen’s birdie try misses well left; Mahomes’ birdie try narrowly misses on the right edge.
After a wild hole, the net result is even.
The Match TIED thru 7
No. 6 (par 3, 190 yards)
Allen pulls a mid-iron and produces a high cut off the tee; the ball over-cuts, though, as he yells out a “Fore right!” The ball finds a section of fans short-right of the green.
Perhaps in fear of a pond guarding the front-left portion of the green, Mahomes pushes his tee shot to the right as well.
Allen opts to take his one allotted mulligan — to earn it, though, he needs to hit a target (a cutout of Charles Barkley’s head) with a football. He succeeds to earn his mulligan. This time, though, the ball sails well left of the green.
Undeterred by the struggles of Allen/Mahomes, Brady takes the tee and produces a crisp draw that finds the center of the green, about 25 feet for birdie. Rodgers plays a slight fade that flies past the flag but settles safely on the green, leaving a 30-foot downhill birdie try.
From the spot of Mahomes’ tee shot, about 50 feet right of the flag, Allen plays a deft pitch that settles within 6 feet of the hole. Mahomes’ pitch releases 8 or so feet past the cup, leaving the team with two testers for par.
Brady’s birdie putt is well struck, but it releases 3 feet past the hole on the right side. Rodgers judges the speed perfectly but the ball curls just left, leaving a conceded par.
Mahomes produces a confident strike on his left-to-right par saver, and it finds the right-center of the cup. A fist pump ensues, as well as a high-five with his teammate. The proceedings remain tied at the midway point.
The Match TIED thru 6
No. 5 (par 5, 533 yards)
Allen pulls driver and takes an aggressive line near a creek left of the fairway, but the ball hangs on just enough, settling in the left side of the fairway with an ideal angle of attack. Mahomes pulls driver and immediately points in dismay, as the ball sails into the trees.
Brady’s case of the duck-hooks continues, as it sails left of the fairway-guarding creek and into the forest of wood chips. Rodgers plays a fade that flirts with the creek more than he might have liked, but the ball stays dry and settles in a line of rough between the creek and fairway.
Playing from Rodgers’ tee shot, Brady pushes an iron well right of the fairway; he quickly sighs in dismay. Rodgers’ second shot sails right as well, into a region of fans short-right of the green.
Allen pulls iron for his second shot and continues the foursome’s trend, quickly exhaling a “Fore right!” as the ball sails right of the fairway, settling into a patch of wood chips.
From the position of Allen’s tee shot, Mahomes starts the ball left and watches it cut back toward the green. On perhaps the team’s shot of the day to this point, the ball comfortably lands on the front portion of the green, leaving a 20-footer for eagle.
After finding an adjacent fairway with his second shot, Brady hoists a short iron high above the tree line; the ball finds the back of the green, leaving 35 feet or so for birdie.
With the tree line blocking his angle to the flag, Allen plays a low punch that settles on the front fringe, about 25 feet away for his birdie look.
From just a few feet behind a tree, Rodgers is faced with a blind third shot, and he finds an opening. The low runner chases through the green and into the back fringe, leaving a 45-foot birdie look.
Rodgers’ birdie try races 12 or so feet past the hole. Brady’s left-to-right breaker cuts across the hole on the right side, releasing 6 feet past.
Needing two putts to win the hole, Mahomes lags his eagle try just inches short of the cup, on a perfect line. He taps in for birdie to win the hole, bringing the match back to tied, a swift shift for a team that had lost the opening two holes.
The Match TIED thru 5
No. 4 (par 3, 155 yards)
Allen takes a short iron for his tee shot and is immediately displeased; the ball sails left and finds a greenside pond, making a distinct splash. Mahomes plays a high cut and is slightly off-balance on his follow-through; he stares it down and the ball maintains a direct line to the hole, but flies the green into the back fringe, about 30 feet from the hole.
Brady plays a high draw and finds the front-middle portion of the green, settling on a level below the hole, approximately 35 feet away for birdie. Rodgers plays a high fade that is pushed well right of the green; yells of ‘Fore!’ are cried immediately, and the ball finds a collection of wood chips and shrubs.
Brady plays first on the birdie try; he displays deft touch as the ball makes its way up the slope and nestles within 3 feet of the hole. The par is not conceded. Perhaps having attained a teach, Rodgers does even better, lagging his putt up to within gimme range. The team is in with a par.
From Mahomes’ spot on the back fringe, Allen pulls wedge; he bumps the ball into the slope to take off some speed, leaving a manageable par putt from inside 6 feet. Mahomes also opts for wedge from 10 or so feet off the green; the ball tracks toward the hole and checks a bit, but it releases to leave a par putt from 5 feet or so.
With two looks at par to tie the hole, Allen/Mahomes needs just one, as Allen drains his par-saver, center cut.
For the first time this evening, a hole is tied.
Brady/Rodgers 1 up thru 4
No. 3 (par 4, 325 yards)
Rodgers plays firsrt, pulling driver on the short par 4. He plays a banana-type cut that lands in the right rough but bounces back into the fairway. Brady takes driver and pulls it left for the third consecutive hole, the ball finding trouble well left of the fairway.
Allen pulls driver and plays a fierce cut that splits the fairway. Mahomes plays a similar shot shape with a low bullet that nearly reaches the green, leaving a short eagle pitch from short-left of the flag.
Playing a 40-yard eagle chip from the spot of Rodgers’ tee shot, Brady opts for a bump-and-run with a hybrid. The ball skips and races 25 feet past the hole — “that’s not bad, but that’s not good,” remarks commentator Charles Barkley.
Rodgers moves his ball into the rough (still within a club length of his tee shot) and plays a higher pitch, the ball landing short of the green, into the upslope, and failing to release on.
Mahomes pulls putter for his eagle try; the ball starts out left and breaks back toward the hole, settling within tap-in range, the team’s first birdie of the evening. Freed up to be aggressive with his eagle try, Allen also pulls putter; the ball quickly sails to the right of the hole.
Needing heroics from long range to match Mahomes’ natural birdie, neither Rodgers nor Brady can deliver. Rodgers’ birdie putt from the fringe nestles to within a foot, and Brady pushes his 25-footer to the right.
Allen/Mahomes wins its first hole of the night.
No. 2 (par 5, 494 yards)
After warning fans to move back from the tree line, Brady’s concern proves justified, as he hooks a low liner into the left tree line.
Rodgers picks up his partner for the second consecutive hole, a butter fade that finds the center of the fairway.
Allen pulls driver and perhaps overcompensates for his opening tee shot that found the left tree line; he plays a high fade that sails into the right rough.
Mahomes pulls driver and the ball flies right immediately, more so than Allen’s ball, deep into the right rough.
Team Allen/Mahomes selects Allen’s tee shot from the right rough, and Allen plays first with an iron, the ball precariously flirting with the spectator line. Mahomes pulls iron and produces a high fade; he appears to flush it and displays buoyant body language on the follow-through. The ball sails past the green into the wood chips.
Well positioned after Rodgers’ drive, Brady dials up a short iron that tracks toward the hole the entire way, landing soft to leave a 15-foot eagle look. Rodgers leans immediately as his iron sails to the right; it flirts with the edge of a creek but settles in greenside rough.
From wood chips behind the green, Mahomes plays a deft pitch that lands in the rough and bounces up onto the green, releasing down a ridge to within 10 feet. With Allen out of the hole, it’s a key effort for the Kansas City Chiefs star.
Rodgers catches his 40-foot eagle chip perhaps a bit heavy; it settles nearly 10 feet short of the hole. No harm, though, as his partner is looking good for birdie at worst.
After taking a long look at his eagle effort, Brady starts his putt on a line right of the hole and it breaks back to miss the hole on the left edge. “Sugar,” he reacts after the putt fails to drop. After brief deliberation, the birdie is conceded.
Needing his 10-foot birdie to tie the hole, Mahomes pulls it left; he knew it immediately.
For the second consecutive hole, Brady/Rodgers wins with a birdie.
Brady/Rodgers 2 up thru 2
No. 1 (par 4)
Sporting a man bun, Aaron Rodgers takes the tee first on the opening hole. He waves to the camera and pulls driver, waiting for a few minutes on the tee as Brady “takes his sweet time” before traversing to the tee box. He doesn’t hesitate in making a confident swing; the ball sails down the middle of the fairway.
Brady also takes driver and pulls his shot into the left tree line, settling in wood chips near the rough’s edge. No trouble, though, as his teammate Rodgers is in prime position.
Allen takes driver and hooks the ball into the left tree line, also settling in wood chips. “We’re alright,” he quips after the ball settles.
Mahomes picks up his partner immediately, taking driver and following Rodgers in piercing the center of the fairway. He picks up his tee quickly and without hesitation.
From the spot of Mahomes’ tee shot, Allen pulls a short iron from approximately 120 yards. The ball finds the fringe just left of the green. Mahomes plays a pretty fade that lands past the hole and spins back, settling within 15 feet for an early birdie look.
From the spot of Rodgers’ tee shot, Brady pulls a wedge slightly, but it settles on the left portion of the green to leave a birdie look of 35 feet or so. Rodgers takes it a step further, playing a soft fade that hits on the back of the green and spins back to within 12 feet.
Allen pulls putter from the fringe, the famed Texas wedge, and judges the speed well; the ball releases to leave a 4-foot par look. Allen inquires as to whether the putt is a gimme, but Brady declines.
Next up, Brady does not make clean contact on his birdie look; the ball settles 6 feet short-right of the hole.
Mahomes’ 12-foot birdie look slides by on the right side, but the par is conceded. Brady then drains his par putt to open things up for Rodgers’ birdie effort.
Rodgers maximizes his birdie opportunity, as the right-to-left curler finds the left side of the cup. He pumps his fist in celebration, as the NFC quarterbacks take the early advantage in Las Vegas.
Brady/Rodgers 1 up thru 1
