Charles Barkley insists his golf handicap is ‘back to a 10’

Former NBA great and now NBA analyst, TV pitchman, and apparently much-improved golfer Charles Barkley sounds as confident as ever in his game.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday, Barkley steered the conversation towards golf with a compliment and then a zinger.

“You’re one of my favorite people,” Barkley told Patrick. “You’re a coward on the golf course.”

That was just the beginning.

“Dan, let me tell you something. You ain’t got no chance of ever beating me again. I’ll come to your house, I’ll come wherever. You ain’t never going to beat me at golf again. I’m saying never. Ever.”

Patrick wasn’t backing down: “You know if we played for money all these years, you wouldn’t have any money. You were a charity case.”

Then Barkley insisted he’s almost back to a single-digit handicap.

“I was the worst player in the world, but I’m back now, brother. I’m back now with a vengeance. When I was crappy on the golf course, y’all trashed me for 30 years,”

“I tried to help you,” Patrick said. “I told you not to play. I tried to help you.”

“What else are old and fat people supposed to do?” Barkley replied. “I’m an old, fat dude. I just wanna play golf and fish every day. I love relaxing, doing nothing. But I got my superpowers back. I’ll play anybody, anytime, anywhere.”

“OK, what’s your handicap here, Tiger?”

“I’m a 10. I’m back to a 10 now.”

“Hmmm, I’d like to see that,” Patrick said.

Later this month, Barkley will join Phil Mickelson and TNT play-by-play announcer Brain Anderson in the booth for the fifth rendition of The Match. This time, it’s Bryson DeChambeau taking on Brooks Koepka at Wynn Las Vegas the day after Thanksgiving.

Previous Matches were 2-on-2 events. This next one will be a 1-on-1 over 12 holes just off the Vegas Strip. Expect plenty of barbs, quips, gags, one-liners, and more.

“Charles is one of the funniest people I know and he’s one of the quickest wit, articulate, and for him to carry over, cross over into golf,” Mickelson said on Wednesday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. “You know, we’re partners and we’ve won before, so we have a certain credibility when we talk about The Match that I think will provide some insight, too.”

Capital One’s The Match will be simulcast on TNT, TBS, truTV, and HLN starting at 4 p.m. ET.