"This the ugliest ball in the world right here."
That's Charles Barkley talking about the golf balls his partner, Phil Mickelson, gave him to use on the course Friday ... with Shaquille O'Neal's face plastered on them!!!
Chuck and Phil are going head-to-head with Steph Curry and Peyton Manning for "The Match 3" charity golf outing -- raising money for historically Black colleges and universities -- and Phil tried to give his teammate extra incentive to hit a good shot.
Mickelson told Barkley he's tired of his "NBA on TNT" colleagues disrespecting him -- most notably Shaq -- so it was time for a little payback.
Unfortunately, Charles didn't follow up with a hole-in-one, but didn't hit a bad shot either ... which has been the story of the day so far.
Chuck -- who's known to have a notoriously bad hitch in his swing -- has been swinging pretty smoothly ... and he and Phil are currently up 3 through 9 holes of the 18-hole showdown.
Barkley did just shank one though ... so ya gotta think Shaq's still got a good chance at getting the last laugh.