Steph claims his first-ever U.S. Championship win of the century originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Steph Curry can add another achievement to his long list of accolades – but this time, in golf.
The Warriors star won his first American Championship of the Century title on Sunday at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada, thanks to a buzzer-beater putt, scoring 25 points in the third and final round to win the celebrity golf tournament.
Curry entered the tournament aiming to win, and he achieved it with a clutch eagle on the 18th hole. He finished with 75 points overall to earn the No. 1 spot atop the ACC standings, ahead of retired tennis player Mardy Fish (73) and former Sharks star Joe Pavelski (66). .
Curry becomes only the second active professional athlete to win the tournament, joining NHL superstar Mario Lemieux in 1998. It’s an accolade Curry aspires to, as he told reporters ahead of the tournament.
“Honestly, I feel like the way I approach and where I feel my game is, I have the game to win it now,” Curry said Friday. “It’s just a question of, can you do it? I can say whatever I want. I’ve been fourth twice, I think. So that’s in there. It’s a question [of] can i put it together for 54 holes and balance the fun and focus you need to play all three rounds and play well.
“So my goal has always been to try to do that as an active NBA athlete. I still have a few years left to do that. We’ll see how it goes.”
It went well. Curry’s performance, winner of the American Championship of the Century, was highlighted by a hole-in-one on the seventh hole on Saturday, setting social media ablaze. It was his second ace and the first to be hit on the seventh par-3 in tournament history.
Sunday’s birdie on the par-4 10th hole was the highlight of Curry’s third round until the final blow, as Fish led the round and the tournament for the majority of the day. Then came Curry’s tournament-winning putt.
Curry is a four-time NBA champion, the NBA’s all-time 3-point leader, two-time league MVP and nine-time All-Star, and he now sits above his golfing peers as a champion of the American championship of the century. And then maybe he can win another NBA title with the Warriors.
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