Play at the 2021 Masters is still a day away, but Patrick Mahomes is by the 16th green at Augusta, studying a delicate downhill chip. He crouches near the hole, sizing up contours, cupping his hands around his face to block the morning glare.
“I’m thinking to scoot a bump-and-run way out to the left, bank it off the hill and hope it goes down toward the hole,” he says.
No, we’re not at the Masters; not even the world’s best quarterback gets access to tee times at the National this week. This is Augusta Country Club, the Course Next Door, where Mahomes is being photographed for the cover of this magazine. It’s not even his chip; I’ve airmailed the green. The hole is meaningless. It’s a backdrop for photos and conversation.
But he’s fully invested anyway, eager to coach me through an up-and-downBefore we go further, a reminder: In the last three years, Mahomes has won an MVP, a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl MVP. He’s signed a ten-year contract extension worth half a billion dollars. He’s gotten engaged to his college sweetheart, Brittany Matthews, and become the proud father of a newborn daughter, Sterling Skye. If Patrick Mahomes doesn’t have it all, he’s certainly in the acquisition process. And he’s 25 years old.
My chip skips over the bank and catches the slope, trundling left-to-right toward the flag, settling a respectable six feet from the hole. Mahomes lets out a yelp of approval, raising his hands as if I’ve just come down with a 40-yard touchdown grab. For a moment, I feel like I have.
Quarterbacks have played golf more or less since the invention of quarterbacks. John Brodie, the 1970 NFL MVP, had a second career on golf’s senior tour, where he won an event and racked up $735,000 in prize money. Tony Romo has played Tour events and attempted Q-School. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have spent significant chunks of the off-season on the course, fine-tuning their games and feeding their competitive appetites. But it would be tough for any of the above to match Mahomes for sheer enthusiasm.
