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This is your chance to tee it up like the pros have for the past years at **RACV Royal Pines Resort** and be treated to a world class course. Enjoy a 2 person ambrose in carts with burger buffet at completion and $1000s of prizes for $219 per person.

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* Location: RACV Royal Pines Resort

* Date: Friday 4th December 2020.

* Shotgun: 8.00am.

* 2 Person Ambrose Team event.

* Includes shared cart.

* Live Mobile Scoring and Leaderboard.

* Event is open to players with and without an official AGU Handicap.

* Handicapped players will be in Division 1 and Non Handicapped players in Division 2

* Division 1 Players earn points for Golfer Tour Order of Merit

*  $119 per player - Open to male and female players.

* Inclusions:

- Lunch at the completion of the round.

- Hole in one prize.

- Nearest the pin prizes.

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- Plus many more prizes.

Two of the biggest names from the PGA Tour and the NFL proved to be must-see TV when they played alongside each other in a golf charity match on Sunday.

Turner Sports said Sunday's telecast of "The Match: Champions for Charity" attracted an average of 5.8 million viewers across four of its networks.

It was the most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history as Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning scored a one-up victory over Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at Medalist Golf Club.

The match featured high entertainment with shots and with words, raising $20 million for COVID-19 relief funds.

The previous record was 4.9 million viewers on ESPN at the 2010 Masters, the year Woods returned to golf for the first time since the scandal in his personal life.

The peak was 6.3 million average viewers from 5:45 to 6 p.m. EDT. That was about the time Brady, who had been lampooned on social media for his golf skills, silenced analyst Charles Barkley by holing out from the fairway for birdie.

It was the second straight Sunday of live golf on television after the pandemic shut down the sport on March 13.

The previous week, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson defeated Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff at Seminole in an exhibition that NBC Sports said attracted 2.35 million viewers across all formats.

The PGA Tour is set to return in two weeks at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Tiger Woods has gotten the better of Phil Mickelson once more.

Playing on his home golf course, the 82-time PGA TOUR winner built an insurmountable advantage over the first six holes before fending off a late rally to beat his longtime rival Mickelson, 1-up, in Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity.

A total of US$20 million was raised for COVID-19 relief efforts in the team match play event that featured Woods and Mickelson playing alongside National Football League (NFL) stars, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

“The fact that we all came together and were able to raise this money for those who have been severely impacted (is great),” Woods said. “Tom and Peyton, hats off to them for coming out. This is our arena, and this is what we do. We couldn’t imagine going on the football field and doing what they do.”

Woods and Mickelson have finished first and second nine times over the course of their famed rivalry on the PGA TOUR, and those fireworks were once again on display Sunday at Medalist Golf Club.

And while the two Hall of Fame players headlined the star-studded event, 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas chipped in as the on-course reporter while Brooks Koepka called into the telecast to donate money to the cause, which also included player-themed golf cars and competitions that included long drive and closest-to-the-pin challenges.

“It was an honor for Tom and I to be invited to play in this match and it will always be something I remember and cherish,” Manning said.

Woods and Manning were 3-up after a strong front nine that began with a birdie from Woods at the par-5 third. The advantage doubled at the ensuing par-3 when Manning poured in a birdie, which was set up by an impressive tee shot from Woods that landed inside nine feet. The duo earned one final win at the sixth when Manning two-putted from the fringe.

But Mickelson and Brady’s fortunes began to turn around after moving to the back nine, when the format shifted from four-ball (best-ball) to modified alternate shot. The pair won their first hole when Mickelson drove the green at the 342-yard 11th and Brady connected a long-range putt for eagle, then added another at the 14th when Manning’s 2-foot par putt lipped out.

“My man hit some really great shots on the back nine,” Mickelson said of Brady, who had the shot of the day with a hole out from the fairway at No. 7. “We fought hard to make up the (deficit) on the front. I was a little nervous, really tight. But he really shined and hit some great shots and we made a run, came really close.”

Tom Brady delivered the shot of the match but Tiger Woods earned a measure of revenge against Phil Mickelson as he teamed with Peyton Manning to win "The Match: Champions for Charity".

The PGA Tour is set to return on June 11 and it has a tough act to follow after Woods lagged a long birdie putt on the 18th close enough to secure a 1-up victory for his pairing.

The goal was to raise $10 million ($A15.3m) for COVID-19 relief funds and online donations sent money climbing with a final figure of $20m ($A30.6m).

"Knowing $20 million was raised and helping people going through tough times, it was an honour to be invited," Manning said.

"It's something I'll always remember."

This made-for-TV exhibition, with two NFL greats along for the ride, surpassed 2018's "The Match" in which Mickelson defeated Woods in a playoff under lights.

The spectacle at Medalist Golf Club on Sunday included world No.4 golfer Justin Thomas pitched in as an on-course reporter, bringing a mixture of humour and insight.

Woods and Manning took the lead on the third hole and never trailed, building a 3-up lead in fourballs on the front nine.

It was a closer battle coming home, played in modified alternate shot format.

Brady struggled for most of the day and took a beating on social media and in the broadcast booth from NBA legend Charles Barkley, while Brooks Koepka offered $100,000 if the six-times Super Bowl champions could just make a par.

One shot silenced everyone.

With his fourth shot on the par-5 seventh from the fairway, with Barkley needling him relentlessly, Brady's shot landed beyond the pin and spun back into the cup.

"Shut your mouth, Chuck," Brady said.

"That's why you're the goat," Barkley responded.

The entertainment didn't stop even as the rain, which caused a late start, returned.

Woods was playing for the first time since mid-February but his game was sharp as his words.

Mickelson on the fifth hole asked Woods to mark his ball from some 80 yards away.

"You want me to mark with a US Open medal," Woods, a three-times champion of the only major Mickelson hasn't won, responded.

"Do you have one? I have some silver ones," Mickelson said, referring to his record six runner-up finishes.

Golf legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are gearing up for a rematch of their 2018 head-to-head, this time in aid of charity.

The pair will face each other in Florida on Sunday along with NFL stars Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in another step towards the return of live sport.

Mickelson beat Woods in a $A13 million showdown in November 2018 in a one-off round designed for pay-per-view television, although it struggled to capture the imagination of the golfing world and technical issues meant it was ultimately available to watch for free.

This time the players and Warner Media have together put up $US10 million ($A15 million) for Covid-19 relief efforts.

Woods and Mickelson had a frosty relationship earlier in their careers but it has thawed considerably in recent times and the mind games for this event have been played strictly for laughs.

Mickelson showed off his 'The Match' trophy during a live video call between the four competitors and Woods responded by putting on his green jacket from his 2019 Masters triumph.

The NFL players - both quarterbacks - also have a long-standing rivalry to spice up proceedings.

Brady, Mickelson's partner, recently joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after winning six Super Bowls during two decades with the New England Patriots.

The retired Manning won two Super Bowls during a career which saw him turn out for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos.

The contest will take place behind closed doors at the Medallist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, one of Woods' regular practice courses, with no caddies but players allowed to drive their own golf carts.

The format will be fourball for the front nine followed by a foursome on the way back with the amateurs - both of whom have single-figure handicaps - given some shots on the way out.

In this episode of Backspin, Larry and Steve catch up with Ian Baker-Finch and cover a stack of topics including the PGA Tour in a post-Covid world, the Australian summer of golf, the Olympic Games, Donald Trump and Jim Nantz. Larry’s tip involves popping in to your local pro shop to talk about your balls, and he also cries out for some old school etiquette on and around the course in the time of Coronavirus. It’s all in Backspin!

The LPGA has cancelled Tour qualifying "Q-schools" this year because of the coronavirus pandemic with most players retaining their status for the 2021 season.

The elite women's golf circuit tour also scrubbed the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan from the schedule.

The tour, which was suspended in late February after the Australian Open, plans to return on July 23 with the opening round of the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

Commissioner Mike Whan said the decision to retain the same playing roster, with a few exceptions for players returning from medical exemptions or earning cards from tournament wins, was simply a matter of fairness.

"We really felt that the right thing to do was make sure that while COVID-19 is going to affect 2020 for everybody, it shouldn't affect your career," he said.

"And you shouldn't find yourself back trying to play your way onto a tour when you probably didn't get a chance to play your way on or off a tour in the first place."

There will be no qualifying for any of the remaining 20 tournaments this year, with the fields to be decided the week before the event.

The Meijer LPGA Classic had already been postponed from June to October 1-4 and will be replaced in the amended schedule by the LPGA Classic in New Jersey, which was originally slated for May 29-31.

Unsatisfied with the US PGA Tour's safety measures, Adam Scott is set to go into the the year's first major championship with just one tournament under his belt following the shutdown.

World No.6 Scott will watch from home on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for the first six weeks after the tour resumes on June 11, but is then pondering a marathon stint of nine weeks or more in the US.

Safety precautions for the tour's return from a three-month shutdown due to the pandemic include layers of coronavirus testing for players, caddies and support personnel as well as using chartered flights between events.

The plan intends to restrict movement of players during events - which will be conducted without spectators - and encourage golfers to isolate themselves from the public.

"They are being fairly thorough, but my initial reaction was I was surprised it wasn't tighter than it is," Scott told AAP.

"What concerns me is dialogue that (the tour) is hopeful of returning one or two-hour test (results). You'd want that in place before competing.

"The other (concern) is it seems an asymptomatic person could operate within a tournament.

"If they're not showing symptons and I somehow picked it up inside the course and I'm disqualified I'm now self-isolating (in that city) for two weeks. I'd be annoyed if that happened.

"I thought you'd start quite tight and loosen those protocols to normal if appropriate."

Scott is eyeing the World Golf Championships event in Memphis, Tennessee starting July 30 for his return.

That would be his only warm-up for the rescheduled US PGA Championship in San Francisco in early August - the first major of 2020.

The US Open has been moved to mid-September and the Masters will be staged in mid-November, while the British Open was cancelled.

"I'm definitely going to sit out and see how the first few weeks of the PGA Tour pan out and if things are progressing well, playing Memphis the week before the PGA is a thought," Scott said.

"I would have to think about staying in the United States through the US Open (starting September 17 at New York's Winged Foot course).

"It's going to turn into like a nine-week trip to do that, maybe more."

Scott began his 2020 season in style with a victory at the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles in February that had him excited about his prospects at the Masters before the shutdown intervened.

"I was pretty primed for a run into Augusta there; I was feeling pretty good so that was disappointing from a golf standpoint," Scott said.

"But I'm excited we're at least getting a chance to play the Masters this year."

The R&A today launched a £7 million funding package, The R&A Covid-19 Support Fund, to help golf deal with the impact of the pandemic.
 
The fund will be largely aimed at national associations and other affiliated bodies in Great Britain and Ireland.

With the global pandemic leading to widespread temporary course closures and drastic reductions in domestic and international travel, many golf clubs and facilities are facing serious financial difficulties. The fund is being provided to help The R&A’s affiliated national associations to support those clubs and facilities, although some of the money may be used for other activities key to the future health of the sport.
 
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on golf and many clubs are facing dire financial situations through no fault of their own. Golf is in our DNA and we want to see the sport continue to thrive from grassroots right through to the top level on the professional tours. We have a responsibility to do what we can to help in such a crisis.
 
“The R&A Covid-19 Support Fund will enable national associations and other key bodies to provide support to some of their members. We know that many challenges lie ahead but club golf is the bedrock of our sport and hopefully this fund will help to begin the process of recovery.”
 
The R&A is working with its national associations and other selected organisations on communications, with each body being responsible for controlling and allocating its share.
 
The R&A reinvests the proceeds from the success of The Open, golf’s original championship, in growing and supporting golf and already provides financial support to a wide range of organisations in addition to national associations, including the European Tour, the LET, the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland and the Golf Foundation.
 

Golf's US Open might feel more like a closed shop this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has already meant the movement of the American major from June to September, has now forced the USGA to do away with qualifying for the first time since 1924.

Open qualifying is the hallmark of golf's second-oldest championship. The USGA often points out that typically half of the 156-man field has to go through either 36-hole qualifying or 18-hole and 36-hole qualifying.

It even invested in a marketing campaign that was rolled out in February titled, "From Many, One," to illustrate that some 9,000 people apply to play in the US Open, eventually yielding to one winner.

The USGA did not announce Monday how other players would become exempt for the event at the Winged Foot course in New York.

"As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships," said John Bodenhamer, senior MD of championships for the USGA.

"We take great pride in the fact that many thousands typically enter to pursue their dream of qualifying for the US Open and we deeply regret that they will not have that opportunity this year."