“Golf has become a huge part of everything,” Mahomes said. “When I plan trips, when I set up my off-season, I have to figure out places to play when I’m there.”
His game will be put in the spotlight on Wednesday. Mahomes is set to join Bills quarterback Josh Allen in the sixth edition of The Match, teaming up against seasoned The Match — and NFL — veterans Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
THE MATCH: Complete guide to The Match
Mahomes has appeared at several golf tournaments in the past, but given the attention The Match gets every year, not to mention the trash talk that’s already been thrown around, gives this event a bit more gravitas for Mahomes.
Just how good is he going to be out there? The Sporting News attempts to answer that question.
Patrick Mahomes’ handicap
According to Golf.com, Mahomes has a handicap of 7.7, which places him as the second-best in the field. Rodgers has a handicap of 4.6, Brady is at 8.1 and Allen is 9.0.
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Is Patrick Mahomes good at golf?
Driving
Mahomes can send the ball down the football field farther than just about anybody. He certainly appears to have one of the best driving games in the field.
This was Mahomes a few years ago at TopGolf, rapidly sending the ball into orbit.
And that’s not the only time he’s put his driving ability on display. Golf.com showed him hit a tee shot 347 yards down the fairway.
According to The Athletic, Mahomes said that he has improved his driving game this offseason with some help from Hank Kuehne.
“[Kuehne] helped me out with my driver,” Mahomes said. “This offseason has been the first time I’ve been consistently using my driver and hitting it well.”
He told Golf.com that he used to have a slice in his swing reminiscent of a baseball player’s golf swing, but he has since corrected it to fade more at the end of a powerful drive.
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Irons
Mahomes has admitted that he’s a bit of an aggressive golfer when he’s on the course, though he’ll tone it down when needed. While golfing with Golf.com, Mahomes hit a tee shot to the right of the fairway and just sent an easy iron shot back to the fairway to play it safely.
He added that he gets more nervous on the course than he does when on the football field.
“It’s hit or miss, man, depends on the day,” Mahomes said when using a wedge to approach the green with Golf.com. “Right now, I’d probably say I’m a little nervous. But for the most part, I can usually get it in the vicinity of where I’m trying to hit it, but with these greens rolling pretty quick, we’re going to see what we have today.”
The way Mahomes sees it though, with him and Allen hitting tee shots, there won’t be much of a need for them to use irons.
“The reason we’re going to win is that we’re going to be able to play the course differently than old Tom and old Aaron over there,” Mahomes said, according to ESPN. “They might get us on a couple of par 3s and stuff like that but whenever we can really open it up and use the drivers . . . it’s going to be nice to be able to use our little wedges like they use their 6-irons.’’
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Putting
Mahomes told The Athletic that he is still working on his putting, but that when he closes in on the green, “I plan on having a lot of wedges in hand.”
Mahomes told Golf.com that he tries to putt with a lot of feel and play it safe.
“I try to give myself a chance by staying above the hole, and then if it trickles in, it trickles in,” Mahomes said. “I’m not the best putter in the world, but I want to make sure I can roll something in whenever they count.”
That doesn’t mean he’s all that bad at putting. Here was an impressive putt he made for par on the 17th hole in the 2020 American Century Championship.
Best golf moments
Mahomes took to the course at the 2020 American Century Championship, and he had a few memorable moments, including dropping in a perfect tee shot with an iron on the par 3 12th hole, and he made nice putts for par on the par-4 14th hole and the par-3 17th hole.
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Patrick Mahomes golf attire
When Mahomes has been out golfing, he hasn’t worn anything too flashy. At the American Century Championship, he wore some Adidas-brand clothing — he signed a contract to partner with Adidas and has several shoes through the company.
He has stated in the past that he thinks the game should loosen up a bit on the traditional attire, though not lose the respect for the game that golfers should show when they are out on the course. When walking tee to green with Golf.com, he wore a jacket and shorts as he walked the 17th hole at Augusta Country Club.
“I definitely think it would help man. Obviously I’m in some good gear today and I feel better, I feel like I can have some style, some swag, I guess you would say. Obviously you want to still respect the game, you want to still respect the tradition, but at the same time, we can still loosen up and have fun and everybody can enjoy a nice round of golf.”
What to expect from Patrick Mahomes in The Match?
Mahomes has talked about how much of an emphasis he has placed on improving his golfing game throughout his NFL career, and he has had some decent showings.
As Rodgers pointed out in one of his recent shots at Mahomes, the Chiefs’ QB hasn’t broken 80 when playing at Lake Tahoe in the American Century Championship. But he could surprise with his play at Wynn Golf Club, and should be the better of the two in his partnership with Allen.
