Tate is better than Manning... in golf

Eli Manning officially has been dethroned on the Giants’ depth chart.

On the golf course, that is.

Golden Tate, the Giants’ new starting wide receiver, revealed in a team interview late last week that he has scored lower than Manning in both of their rounds together so far. Tate, 30, also said with a smirk that he’s taken “a few bucks off” Manning in the process.

The humorous exchange happened in a Giants Insider video on the team website as Tate described his growing relationship with Manning.

“I really enjoy being around Eli,” Tate said. “We spent time — obviously in the building — but also outside of here playing golf.

And I love his sense of humor.”

“Who’s a better golfer, you or Eli?” host Madelyn Burke asked.

Tate first glanced at the camera awkwardly, as if wondering if he should reveal the truth. He then humble-bragged: “Um, I mean, my score’s been better the two times we’ve played, so.”

“There ya go, but it’s all good times, right?” Burke asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tate said.

“It has team building, chemistry, all that good stuff, right?” Burke said, keeping it light.

But Tate now was comfortable trashtalking Eli and threw one more dig.

“Yeah, I’m just taking a few bucks off him here and there,” Tate said with a smirk. “There’s nothing wrong with that.

Golf Digest estimated Tate’s handicap at a solid 7.6 compared to a respectable 9.3 for Manning in its rankings of top athlete golfers last October.

For reasons unknown, Tate does not appear to have a sponsorship deal with the Golden Tee golf arcade game series produced by Incredible Technologies, Inc.

He does have a new quarterback who controls when he gets the ball, though. So maybe missing an extra putt or two on their next round wouldn’t hurt their chemistry on the football field.