Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the Pro-Am portion of the Pebble Beach golf tournament over the weekend — but as with seemingly everything Rodgers does these days, it was not without controversy.
Playing with professional partner Ben Silverman, Rodgers edged out Peter Malnati and former FedEx CEO Don Colleran by one stroke, finishing 26-under through three rounds. But Rodgers entered the tournament with a suspiciously high handicap of 10, meaning he was given 10 strokes each round.
Pro golfer Keith Mitchell — who played the Pro-Am version of the tournament with Rodgers’ NFL rival, Bills quarterback Josh Allen — was not shy about calling out the future Hall of Famer.
“I think Josh and I won,” Mitchell, who finished the professional side of the tournament tied for fourth, said when asked how he did in the Pro-Am. “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t count. His handicap was crap.”
Silverman, Rodgers’ playing partner, didn’t even make the cut of the professional tournament after shooting 1-over par through the first three rounds. Rodgers had such a low score that it didn’t matter.
The Packers quarterback, who is in limbo in the NFL as Green Bay contemplates trading him this offseason, claimed he had only played one other round since training camp started in August, shooting an 86 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. That shouldn’t matter, as the USGA’s official handicap rules state that if you have over 20 rounds of golf under your belt (which Rodgers surely does), your eight best score differentials of the most recent 20 rounds are used to calculate the number.
When Josh Allen was asked if Rodgers’ win should come with an asterisk, Allen said, “100 percent.”
“It’s only three rounds and a 2.6 handicap got 10 shots? Come on now. I don’t know. I’m not the person to ask that question. But it is what it is,” Allen said.
Rodgers, skirting the handicap question, told ESPN that Allen was only mad because the tournament lasted three rounds — and not because of the bogus handicap.
“Josh Allen was telling me there’s going to be an asterisk by this win because there was only three rounds,” Rodgers said. “But I think our names are going to be up there for a long time.”