Steph Curry wins ACC golf event highlighted by hole-in-one
Atherton resident Stephen Curry had an incredible performance, winning the American Century Championship golf event this past weekend in Lake Tahoe, becoming the first African American athlete to do so.
Similar to ‘The Match,’ a golf event Curry and his Splash Brother Klay Thompson participated in, the ACC event features celebrities and athletes from various sports. Instead of two teams competing, this event had a field of 93 competitors, including 19 active athletes (NBA, NFL, NHL, WWE) and 17 Hall of Famers playing 54 holes of golf. Curry became the third active athlete to win the event (first since 2000), only the second basketball player ever (Vinny Del Negro, 2021) and the first African American athlete.
Curry has competed in this event 10 times, with his previous best finish being fourth place, a mark he has reached three times (most recently in 2020). The scoring system was a modified Stableford scoring, awarding one point for par, three for birdie, six for eagle and deducting two points for double bogey or worse. Curry had a clean sweep of the weekend, leading after day one (27 points), day two (50 points) and finishing the tournament with 75 points, two ahead of runner-up Mardy Fish (a former professional tennis player).
Although he led most of the event, Curry was trailing by three entering the final hole. The four-time NBA Champion needed an eagle to win his first ACC Championship. Curry secured the victory with a championship-sealing putt from about 15 feet out.
Despite all his NBA success, Curry also loves the sport of golf — he’s frequently spotted at the Stanford course in the off-season — and has dreamt of hitting a game-winning shot to win a golf championship, which he accomplished on Sunday.
“I’ve always dreamt of a situation like this on an 18th green, in front of a crowd like that, to make the putt,” he said.
Curry sank the longest shot of the ACC Championship on the seventh hole during the second round on Saturday. Needing to get the ball in the hole in three attempts for par, Curry made the shot on his first try, drilling it from 152 yards away. Nobody in ACC history has gotten a hole-in-one on the seventh hole and there have only been five total aces throughout the history of the course.
The NBA’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers documented his second career hole-in-one by writing the milestone on his glove, while saving the ball and scorecard.
After the event, Andre Iguodala, Curry’s teammate this past season and fellow ACC competitor, called Curry the “greatest athlete of our time.”
Curry is pictured with his son, Canon.
