NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce claim upset victory over NBA’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in ‘The Match’

By George Ramsay and Homero De la Fuente, CNN

(CNN) — With the Super Bowl heading to Las Vegas next year, could Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s unlikely golfing victory in Sin City be an auspicious sign for the Kansas City Chiefs?

Mahomes and Kelce pulled off an upset 3 and 2 win against NBA stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in the eighth edition of “The Match” charity golf event, this year staged at Wynn Golf Club in Vegas.

“I wouldn’t mind coming back here in February and defending the title, baby,” Kelce told CNN Sport’s Andy Scholes about a potential return to Las Vegas with the Chiefs next year.

Quarterback Mahomes and tight end Kelce entered Thursday’s 12-hole game against their NBA counterparts as heavy underdogs, particularly given Curry’s prowess on the golf course.

After the first hole was tied, the Chiefs pair won the next three to go three-up and didn’t look back from there, cruising to victory against the Golden State Warriors’ ‘Splash Brothers.’

Curry and Thompson briefly made things interesting on the ninth when the NBA duo were finally able to win a hole, though the comeback was short-lived.

Mahomes and Kelce completed their victory on the next hole as the tight end – despite heckles from the side of the green – drained his close-range putt.

“I’m new with how Trav is playing,” said Mahomes. “We knew coming into this that if I just played decent, we were going to have a chance. Steph’s a great golfer, I thought Klay did a good job out there today. But they didn’t have that team aspect that we had.

“Literally, I would hit a terrible shot, Trav would hit a great one and vice versa. That’s what it takes in a team event like that and I think we went out there and showed what we can do.”

This year’s competition, during which the players wore mics and trash-talked their way around the course, was once again taking place in the name of charity.

Contributions this year raised money for the “No Kid Hungry” campaign to end childhood hunger in the United States.

Over the previous seven editions, “The Match” had raised more than $35 million for various organizations and has donated more than 27 million meals.

This was the second time that no professional golfer has participated in the event after Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers defeated Mahomes and Josh Allen in a battle of the quarterbacks last year.

The series started in 2018 when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson went head-to-head at Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas.

“The Match” was exclusively televised on TNT. CNN is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, along with HBO, Warner Bros, TNT, TBS and other media assets.

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CNN’s Ben Morse contributed to reporting.