STATELINE, Nev. – Steph Curry’s year-delayed encore at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament is sure to spark memories of his 2023 wire-to-wire victory, especially his viral hole-in-one.
Like his influence in basketball, golfers galore will try imitating his shot, not to mention his epic wingspan celebration that resembled a fighter jet soaring down Edgewood Tahoe’s No. 7 fairway.
“I’ve gotta do what Steph did: I’ve got to drop in two or three eagles, or two eagles and a hole-in-one,” John Smoltz, an Atlanta Braves pitching legend and current Fox analyst, said on a media conference call. “… I was on the parallel hole when I heard the roar, and only that roar signifies what happened.”
Two years ago, Curry holed out with a pitching wedge on the 152-yard 7th hole, then returned the next day to sink an eagle putt on 18 that clinched the tournament title, which he couldn’t defend last year while in Paris delivering an Olympic Gold medal.
Only six golfers have sunk a hole-in-one in this tournament’s 35-year history, and Curry’s wasn’t even the most recent. This could be the third straight year an ace is dealt across the street from South Lake Tahoe’s casinos.
Raiders legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown made one on the 12th hole last year – and won a boat in the process. An even bigger prize was awarded in 2011, when Joe Sakic aced the 17th hole and scored a $1 million payday that he split with an ACC charity.
Rudy Gatlin (1995), Dan Jansen (1999), and Marshall Faulk (2009) are also in the tournament’s exclusive hole-in-one fraternity that others are trying to break into this week.
Tight end George Kittle, the 49ers’ seven-time captain, will be making his tournament debut in search of his first-ever hole-in-one. Teammate Kyle Juszczyk is also hunting for his first ace, though he made his ACC debut a year ago and tied for 64th with Jerry Rice and comedian Rob Riggle, just ahead of Charles Woodson and Steve Young.
Kittle has been good luck this offseason when it comes to aces. He’s played with three golfers who’ve hit hole-in-ones – from a Cabo San Lucas round in February to loops in Nashville in March and April; former Packers tight end Robert Tonyan hit the one in March with him.
A hole-in-one in this tournament could deliver a $200,000 recreational vehicle (hole No. 5), a $325,000 Mastercraft X24 boat (hole No. 12), and a $1 million payout (hole No. 17) that is split with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. An interactive display for fans and players awaits at the seventh hole, where Curry made his ace in 2023.
Smoltz has 11 hole-in-ones in his portfolio but none in his previous 15 appearances in this tournament. Of his lucky 11, one came on the par-4, 11th hole at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.
“I could not calm myself down to finish the round even though it was a practice round,” recalled Smoltz, who noted he carded a triple bogey on that same hole the next day in tournament action.
Ahead of making his seventh straight appearance in Tahoe, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas recalled making aces in three states – Hawaii, North Carolina and New Jersey – and how one of them came when playing between the foursomes of pros Harold Verner and Annika Sorenstam. “When we got back, I made sure to ask them how they did on 14. Neither of them won, so I was king for the day,” Bilas recalled.
Of all the pin-seekers this weekend, perhaps no one is more motivated to match Curry’s hole-in-one magic than his younger brother, Seth, who noted: “I have none. I have none. Been on the lip two or three times, literally, the ball halfway over the cup. But no hole-in-ones.”
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The younger Curry noted, however, he once played with a first-time golfer who made an ace in his first round. “It was insane,” Seth Curry said. “But that’s just the crazy thing about hole-in-ones: you never know.”
You know who else knows that: Rory McIlroy, who made an opening-round hole-in-one en route to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Championship in February.
Yep, make an ace, win a trophy. Worked for Curry last time here. Steph Curry, that is. By the way, he is slated to tee off on the 15th hole in Wednesday’s 1 p.m. pro-am.