4 takeaways from Stephen Curry's pro golf debut
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors made his professional golf debut Thursday at the Web.com Tour's Ellie Mae Classic. The two-time NBA MVP fired a respectable 4-over-par 74 on Thursday, but will likely need to play much better if he wants to attain his goal of making the weekend.
Here are four takeaways from Curry's debut:
His short game was great
Curry was a little erratic with his tee shots in the first round, flashing his opening one into the bottom of a golf cart cup holder. He eventually settled down, but found just seven fairways on the day, which ties him for 131st in that category. Curry hit 44 percent of the greens in regulation, but needed just 27 putts, and averaged 1.625 putts per GIR.
"He has really good touch around the greens," Stephan Jaeger told Kevin Spain of USA Today. "I think that's where most amateurs aren't as good as the pros. I tell you what, he was hitting really good chips."
He beat Sam Ryder
Ryder is ranked No. 2 on the Web.com Tour money list, and won his last event by eight shots two weeks back. The 27-year-old earned $108,000 for the victory, wrapping up his PGA Tour card for the 2017-18 season. On Thursday, the NBA point guard beat Ryder by one, 74 to 75.
@SamRyderSU, 2ND in @WebDotComTour rankings on @StephenCurry30 "I won my last start by 8 shots, he beat me today by 1 shot" @elliemaeclassic
— Colin Resch (@colinresch) August 3, 2017
He's getting support
While some aren't very enthusiastic about Curry's sponsored invitation this week, others appreciate his attempt inside the ropes.
Best of luck to @StephenCurry30 this week in the @elliemaeclassic. Thanks for enjoying our game as much as Barbara and I enjoy yours! 🏀🏌️
— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) 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
The Web.com Tour should do this more
There are several notable events this week in the golf world, with a WGC in Akron, another PGA Tour event in Reno, and the Women's British Open in Scotland. Yet this event is grabbing a lot of attention thanks to Curry's presence. The U.S. developmental tour should seriously consider doing this more often.
This is the crowd following @StephenCurry30, on Thursday morning at https://t.co/gZ56s2K2Mk event. No way this is bad for golf pic.twitter.com/GtHDNdCgeh
— Ron Kroichick (@ronkroichick) August 3, 2017
"We want to get used to those crowds," Jaeger said, referring to the mass of people who followed Curry's group Thursday.