TOO GOOD TO PASS UP
One ‘cool life moment’ helped form Brady-Mickelson tandem
IT MADE sense from the beginning. When the two-man teams were formed for “The Match: Champions for Charity” and then announced for public consumption, there was little question about whom was going to partner with whom. Sunday’s golf exhibition to raise some $10 million for COVID-19 relief, to be played at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., all along was going to pair Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady to take on the team of Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning.
Woods and Manning, both represented by the same high-profile shoe brand, have played in a couple pro-am tournaments together at PGA Tour events.
The genesis of the Mickelson-Brady partnership was a bit more organic, and it’s highlighted by one particular “cool life moment’’ as Mickelson puts it.
In advance of the 2017 Masters, Mickelson, Brady and Jimmy Dunne, one of the big business power brokers in golf, were on a golf hang together at Augusta National. They were staying in the member cabins, getting in a workout early in the morning, playing 36 holes and then enjoying some exquisite wine over a good dinner at night.
The next day, they’d wake up and repeat that routine.
One morning on that buddies’ trip, Brady asked Mickelson something that turned into one of Lefty’s most cherished moments — outside of family and the amazing things he’s accomplished on the golf course.
“We all went and worked out in the morning and Brady said, ‘Hey listen, I’ve got to go throw to [Patriots receiver Julian] Edelman next week and I always like to throw a little bit and keep my arm sharp … do you mind catching a few passes?’ ’’ Mickelson told The Post in advance of this weekend’s charity match.
Mickelson said he took exactly zero time to think about Brady’s request.
“I was like,
‘Hell yeah, let’s do this,’
’’ Mickelson said.
“We were down to the left of the 10th hole in the cottages over there where there’s a little gym by the cabins. It’s 7:20 in the morning and half dark out and [Brady] is throwing these passes to me and I’ve never seen a football come in this hard.
“He threw with such velocity and heat that I was a worried about busting a finger, to be honest. I’ve got my fingers bent because I don’t want them to hyperextend. But yet, it wasn’t going to stop me from catching passes from one of the greatest quarterbacks who ever lived … if not the greatest.’’ Wouldn’t it have been so very Mickelson had he injured a finger and was forced to withdraw from that 2017 Masters as a result of an innocent football toss with Tom Brady? Mickelson, after all, always has been known to walk to his own beat, taking ski vacations with his family in the middle of golf season with no worry about breaking a limb and causing him to miss valuable time on the golf course. Mickelson’s mantra in life has always been about living it, not carefully managing it. He and his wife, Amy, always have made it a point to include their three children in those special kinds of life experiences that they’ll not only learn
from but never forget.
So, there was Mickelson, with a Masters to play in less than two months, standing in the dim dawn light trying to catch Brady’s passes without hurting himself because it was a cool experience that he knew he’d never forget.
Sometimes in life, it’s about the stories you get to tell over dinner and a good bottle of Cabernet, and that happens to be one of Mickelson’s favorite things to do — other than drop unthinkably difficult flop shots to within inches of the hole.
“I’ve played catch with some guys with good arms and stuff, but this ball is whistling at me and I’m only catching the last half of it,’’ Mickelson recalled. “He’s got such ground force with his feet and his shoulder and the ball just comes in 25 yards away and there’s just no drop. It had an impact on me, because I didn’t realize how hard those balls are coming in and how good those receivers are to catch those things.
“I was really focused, but those balls were hard to catch. There were three times the ball hit my palm and all three times I had a nerve that shot right through my arm all the way throughout my body. And yet, it’s one of my favorite moments, because who gets to catch passes from the freaking greatest quarterback of all time?’’
On Sunday, Mickelson and Brady get the chance to take down one of the greatest golfers of all time in Woods. And they’ll do it for a good cause. That’s called a win-win.