Turns out, the Boston native is better than both The Great One and the reigning Super Bowl MVP, too.
Wahlberg shot a 97 at Pebble Beach on Thursday, beating Wayne Gretzky by three strokes and Drew Brees by five. The celebrity trio was paired with Peggy Ference, who won an essay contest of 24,860 entries to round out the foursome. Ference lagged behind with a 119, after the 51-year-old amateur deemed the course a par-78 challenge for her game.
The four played in a made-for-TV event that will air on June 20 before the final round of the U.S. Open. The idea was inspired by Tiger Woods when he claimed a 10-handicap couldn't break 100 on such a tough setup after the 2007 Open.
Each celeb was also paired with a current PGA Tour veteran. Ricky Fowler caddied for Wahlberg, Ricky Barnes held Gretzky's clubs, and Bubba Watson advised Brees for the day.
Entering the challenge with the highest handicap of 14, Wahlberg proved Woods wrong. He and Gretzky entered the final hole tied, but while Marky Mark sealed the win with a clutch par, Gretzky tripled-bogeyed the 18th to hit the century mark on the day.
"Those three shots I hit on No. 18 were probably the highlight of the day," Wahlberg told golf.com.
Brees hit the roof of a nearby spa on his opening tee shot and was 8-over after the first three holes, but recovered admirably to make it a three-man competition by the end. To be fair, the Saints quarterback was a little tired after having flown in two days prior from the oil spill crisis on the Gulf Coast.
Screen grab courtesy of golfdigest.com
