Steph Curry wins American Century Championship
Laney Griffo / Tahoe Daily Tribune
STATELINE, Nev. – Golden States Warriors Guard Steph Curry wins the American Century Championship with a knuckle-biting last putt.
Curry led the field on Friday and Saturday before teeing off with Mardy Fish and Joe Pavelski on Sunday.
The NBA legend fell behind Fish on the ninth hole on Sunday and continued to trail by one to two points. On the 18th Tee, Fish led Curry 72-69.
A fan yelled at Fish during his drive, leading to a less than satisfactory shot.
“You have to acknowledge it was an unfortunate situation… Mardy is such a class act and I compliment the way he bounced back,” Curry said. “At that moment, I felt embarrassed for all the other fans because there is so much great love for the other 99.9% people who come into this environment.”
Fish then missed his first putt that would’ve secured his win. Following the missed putt, Curry said Fish told him to make his putt.
Curry sunk an 18 ft putt that clinched the win, before throwing his hat and running to embrace his wife, Ayesha Curry. He credits his history in various championships for helping him keep focus and trust his form and routine during that putt.
Curry made history on Saturday after scoring the first hole-in-one on Hole 7 in tournament history, the fifth ace in tournament history.
“Hearing the roar on the eight green from Steph’s hole in one-in-hole on seven… you know eight points on one hole is a lot of points,” Fish said following the round on Saturday.
Following the ace, Curry said he got on the phone to arrange for his wife and son to travel up from the Bay Area to watch the final round.
Curry has played in the ACC for nearly a decade and said winning this tournament has been dream of his.
Still, he told the Tribune he has no plans to retire from basketball to pursue a golf career anytime soon.
“Life is good in the NBA,” Curry said.
In addition to his wife and son, his father Dell Curry and brother Seth Curry were both present to watch his win.
Curry finished the round at 75, Fish at 73 and Pavelski at 66.
Tony Romo, who was favored to win, finished 8th with 51 points.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.
