Justin Verlander and Charles Barkley traded amusing jabs during the Tiger Woods - Phil Mickelson showdown

Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas was THE place to be Friday -- it was the location of the can't-miss golf event of the year, a showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson that was the talk of the baseball community all afternoon.
As the two golf icons faced off, another competitive battle was brewing on social media ... involving Justin Verlander and Charles Barkley. 
Verlander was hyped for the match before it began:

At one point, Sir Charles talked some trash about the Phil vs. Tiger match, to which Verlander clapped back a bit:

Woods and Mickelson had some fun with Barkley's comments:

This all led to Barkley reading Verlander's tweet on the broadcast, saying he'd accept the challenge if Verlander put up the funds for charity. 
The back-and-forth progressed ...

Which caught Adam Jones' interest:

The Rockets' Chris Paul got involved, too!

 While all that was going on, other baseball players were thoroughly enjoying the match itself:

Aaron Hicks was, as well:

On-hand in Vegas for the festivities were Alex Bregman and Dexter Fowler (and Reggie Bush, to boot):

So was Kris Bryant, a Vegas native:

It's great to see everybody come together like this under a common interest -- in this case, a big golf showdown between two living legends.