It’s unfair to be one of the world’s best basketball players and also be a scratch golfer, but welcome to Stephen Curry‘s world. The Golden State Warriors’ four-time champion sank an eagle putt on the 18th hole of the final round on Sunday to win the American Century Championship. Could pro golf be in Curry’s future once he stops hooping?
Curry Can Swing That Stick
“I don’t do this for a living, so it’s something you dream about,” Curry said. “I’ve been playing in this tournament for almost a decade and now I’ve got some hardware to show for it. It’s pretty special.”
Curry led the tournament wire to wire and had another viral moment during Saturday’s round when he had a hole in one on the 152-yard par 3 7th.
“I was hitting the ball pretty solid, so felt I would have a chance,” Curry said. “On the putt, I was surprisingly calm. The last five feet felt like slow motion.”
Curry’s love affair with golf dates back to playing with his father, former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry. The two have spent countless hours on the course bonding over the other game they love.
There Is A Symbiosis Between Jump Shooting And The Golf Swing
A golf swing, like a jump shot, is a series of intricate moves all done in balance. The Curry’s are among the great NBA shooters who have been obsessed with golf in a similar way they are to basketball.
Ray Allen, JJ Redick, and Kyle Korver are others who famously love the game of golf.
Former NBA player J.R. Smith played golf for the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies in 2021-22 while he was working towards a liberal arts degree.
“So much of it is feel, touch, muscle memory, the ability to continuously repeat that motion, that swing,” Smith says. “And from different spots, different angles, shots. There’s a rhythm, a sort of motion, and that’s why I think it’s a lot like jump-shooting, because there’s so much fluidity and movement but yet it’s still based on the structure of it all.
“That is one of the reasons why it translates, because I felt like I had so many different shots in my arsenal as a basketball player — and then golf is just a game of shots, too.”
Curry holds the crown right now as the best NBA golfer after winning the American Century Championship. Maybe one day he will decide to try and earn a tour card and see if he can play professionally.
