Fore! The world’s worst golfer is back. TNT is bringing back The Match with a celebrity lineup of old and new. Coming in for his ninth embarrassment is Charles Barkley, TNT’s regular golf announcer and The Match participant. The NBA legend is famous as a rebounding force and the leading scorer of the Dream Team. But all that athletic prowess doesn’t translate into his golf swing. Despite spending all his free time on the greens in Arizona or Philadelphia ever since Michael Jordan got him into golf in the ’90s, and even getting lessons from Tiger Woods himself, nothing has fixed Sir Charles’ ugly golf swing.

And you know what, we love it that way. Nobody is looking for Charles Barkley to change his opinion on San Antonio or improve his golf swing. It’s what guarantees us more moments like this.

Sir Charles, The breaker of drivers

When Charles Barkley swings that club, you got to watch out for more projectiles than a ball or stray grass. The spectators at the Regions Traditions pro-am at Shoal Creek in 2011 were a safe distance when Chuck was making his second shot of the day, still at the first hole.

He did a weird leg-trembling move, swung, saw the ball fly, and then saw the head of his driver go along with it. Chuck was stuck for a long time while cameras showed the broken head that flew across the tee box. His playing pro, Fuzzy Zoeller, picked up the broken head (the driver’s, not Chuck’s) and asked, “Are you playing a black Nike?”

A decade in, the physics still baffles us that how bad can Chuck’s swing be that bad a driver yeets itself off the bar than go 18 holes.

Charles Barkley’s swing is an ‘Inside’ job

TNT gave Charles Barkley ample opportunity to improve his golf swing. There was one instance in the pre-Shaq era where Chuckster was doing a live analysis of why he’s so bad at golf. He said the mistake was raising the club too close to his ear?

As Kenny Smith pointed out, there was a lot more wrong to Chuck’s golf than just a little off positioning. That’s why he cautioned any TNT staff on the downwind side of Chuck’s swing to move away if they’re not insured. Sure enough, Barkley’s shot nearly destroyed the indoor golf set.

Chuck is in denial

Tiger Woods mocking his awkward posture didn’t deter Barkley from golf. He, instead sought lessons from pros like Stan Utley and Hank Haney to improve. Before 2020, Barkley had the funniest freeze-up in the downswing and we couldn’t unsee his butt sticking out. With some lessons, his confidence is seen in his swing. But it’s not making any holes.

That was evident when the TNT crew challenged him to chip a few balls into buckets in 45 seconds. As we all saw it coming, the score was zero. The fun part was after when Chuck’s big brag crumbled and he could only fall on his knees like a thwarted Disney villain.

The one-handed confidence

Before the golf gods took matters into their own hands, Chuckster was already basking in misplaced confidence. He had not worked on it, but was playing golf four to six hours a day, nearly 8 months a year in Arizona’s golf weather. Occasionally, he’d break out his signature move.

As seen at the 2014 American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Chuck swooped up with both hands but in the downswing, his left hand let go and slapped the ball off the tee with a clack that sounded frustrated. It gets some impressed applause but does it fix the stutter swing? Nope.

But by all analysis, Golfer Chuck has improved. Will it save him further embarrassment at The Match on November 21 and 22? Fingers crossed, it does not.