Add Florida governor Ron DeSantis to the list of people hoping to watch Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson end the current competition hiatus with a televised exhibition match.
The two men notably faced off for $9 million in Las Vegas in 2018, and earlier this month a Golf.com report noted that the two were in talks to reprise their match, potentially before the PGA Tour resumes competition, with professional golf (and sports) currently at a standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report noted that the exhibition could involve a team element, potentially with NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and was penciled in for an unnamed Florida course rather than Las Vegas. On Monday, DeSantis told reporters that both the country and his state are eager for some fresh competition, noting specifically that a NASCAR race and a potential Woods-Mickelson match-up could be achieved within the confines of current guidelines.
"The one thing I do support, I think that we do need to support content, especially like sports and events," DeSantis said. "I'd like to see Woods and Mickelson do the golf, because that's social distancing. You wouldn't have a gallery there, you wouldn't have crowds. But to put that on TV, I think people have been starved for content. We haven't had a lot of new content since the middle of March."
While Florida is under a stay-at-home order through April 30, DeSantis recently exempted professional sports from that order, including the WWE.