Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry made his way from the hardwood to the fairway. The NBA star point guard made his professional golf debut on Thursday when he teed it up at the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic in the Bay area. The two-time league MVP fired a 4-over par 74, which included three birdies highlighted by a 20-footer he dropped.
Channeling his fellow Under Armour ambassador, Curry told his caddie to “go get that” a la Jordan Spieth at Royal Birkdale.
Hey @JordanSpieth, look what you started. @StephenCurry30 playfully tells caddie to “go get that” after sinking birdie putt pic.twitter.com/dQcjYgiRmL
— Ron Kroichick (@ronkroichick) August 3, 2017
Sure the nerves were flowing and his first drive ended up in a cup holder of a golf cart left of the fairway, but he settled down like the professional athlete he is. Here were Curry’s stats on the day:
Steph Curry: 74 (+4). Hit 8/18 GIR, 4/10 scrambling, 27 putts. Finished 1 shot ahead of Sam Ryder, player in his group, who won 2 weeks ago.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) August 3, 2017
“It was an amazing experience, I’ve been looking forward to this since I found out, and to finally hit my first shot in tournament play was a really, really nervous moment, but it was everything I hoped for,” Curry said after the round. “If you told me I was going to shoot 74 going into the first round I’d take that all day, every day. I’m pretty happy with it.”
While the decision to give Curry a sponsor’s exemption was met with criticism, he proved that this was more than a publicity stunt. Check out some of the PGA Tour pro reactions:
I’ll be the first to admit when I was wrong. I was WAY wrong on @StephenCurry30 this week. VERY impressive out there. Beat some good players
— Steve Wheatcroft (@wheatiePGA) August 3, 2017
.@StephenCurry30 making 3 birdies and shooting +4 is super impressive. Great golfer but things can be tougher inside the ropes. Well done
— Ben Crane (@bencranegolf) August 3, 2017
Gutsy day from @StephenCurry30, proved A LOT of people wrong. Dude has game! And I’m sneaky glad he bogied 18 so I didn’t tie him today ???????? https://t.co/duASL4GEb5
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) August 3, 2017
Curry is only 11 shots off the pace set by Nicolas Thompson. Not bad for a basketball player. Here’s a look at some of his highlights from Thursday:
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