Ecstatic Steph Curry sinks walk-off eagle to win celebrity golf tournament

With a basketball résumé among the most accomplished in NBA history, Steph Curry went to work on his golfing CV over the weekend.

A walk-off eagle saw the Golden State Warriors icon win the American Century Championship in stunning fashion in Stateline, Nevada, on Sunday, becoming the first active professional athlete to win the celebrity tournament in 23 years.

Curry had lit up Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course with a sensational 152-yard hole-in-one on Saturday, and repeated his celebration of whisking off his cap and sprinting away after his nerveless final putt secured him a two-point victory over former US tennis player and playing partner Mardy Fish.

Yet while his second round ace had been marked by a charge down the fairway and a lap of the green, the 35-year-old toasted his winning eagle by heading straight for his wife Ayesha.

“She knows how much I love this game,” Curry told reporters.

“It’s always on the TV. It doesn’t matter what tournament it is, I’m watching the game. I’m trying to soak up as much as I can.

“So as soon as I made it, I made the putt, I knew where she was, and I had to go straight to her because I appreciate the fact that – even on our vacation – she’ll let me play.”

Victory saw the four-time NBA champion clinch the $125,000 winner’s prize for topping a star-studded US celebrity field of more than 90 players.

Hollywood actors, comedians, and entertainers all featured, but it was athletes past and present who made up the majority of the field, ranging from current NFL stars Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Aaron Rodgers to golfing great Annika Sorenstam.

Curry had taken a three point lead over Fish and NHL player Joe Pavelski into the third and final round of the event, which used the Modified Stableford format to award points by score per hole.

A final round 25 was enough to hold off Fish, who closed with 26, and see Curry join American NFL kicker Al Del Greco (2000) and Canadian NHL player Mario Lemieux (1998) as only the third active pro athlete to win the event.

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Adam Sandler: Who else could begin a list of celebrity golfers? As the star of one of the sport's most memorable movies, Sandler has continued the "Happy Gilmore" legacy with a host of Pro-Am appearances. Even the film's antagonist Shooter McGavin, played by Christopher McDonald, is still a regular face on the fairways.

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Michael Jordan: Any sports fan who has watched "The Last Dance" will know MJ's passion for golf is well-documented. As a college junior, the future NBA legend became hooked after playing a round with fellow University of North Carolina alumni -- and future PGA Championship winner -- Davis Love III. In 2019, Jordan opened his very own course in Florida, The Grove XXIII -- the roman numerals a nod to his iconic No. 23 jersey.

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Justin Timberlake: The singer and actor has been bringing "SexyBack" to golf for decades. Pictures of JT strutting his stuff at tournaments date back to 2002, and he is a common face at the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach Pro-Am events.

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Catherine Zeta-Jones: The academy-award winning Welsh actress has competed at Pro-Am's across the globe alongside fellow acting -- and golfing -- husband, Michael Douglas. Reportedly playing off a 22-handicap, the Chicago star told one British talk show host in 2016 that if Douglas fails to clear the ladies tee with his drives, he has to take his pants off as a forfeit.

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Tom Brady: One of many NFL players known to enjoy swapping the gridiron for the four-iron, the seven-time Super Bowl champion is a keen golfer. After two defeats, Brady finally registered his first "The Match" victory in June after pairing with Aaron Rodgers to defeat Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in the all-quarterback, sixth edition of the event [pictured].

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Macklemore: Taking his audacious style from the Thrift Shop to the fairways, the Grammy-award winning rapper is a keen player with his very own golf clothing line, Bogey Boys. Last year, he spoke with CNN about his "scary addiction" to the game.

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Jessica Alba: The Hollywood actress is a known golf enthusiast, and in 2014 went searching for an Alba-tross at the Mission Hills Celebrity golf Pro-Am on the Southern Chinese island of Hainan [pictured].

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Niall Horan: There's only One Direction the ball is going when the Irish singer-songwriter is at the tee. A regular presence at DP World Tour events, the former boy band star is the founder of the Modest! Golf Management agency.

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Tom Holland: Part-time web-slinger, full-time golf swinger -- the "Spider-Man" lead is a self-confessed golf addict. The English actor has made no secret of his love for the game as a stress release from Hollywood life, and surprised onlookers with some booming drives at the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am in 2021 [pictured].

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Stephen Curry: The three-point king of the NBA is also a highly-proficient par-three shooter. An avid golfer and regular Pro-Am competitor, in April the Golden State Warriors icon launched an all-expenses paid golf tour for underrepresented young players.

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Celine Dion: Her iconic theme for a film about a sinking ship is known worldwide, but her penchant for sinking putts is one of the less well-known aspects of the Canadian singer's glittering life. Alongside late husband René Angélil, Dion owned Le Mirage Golf Club in Terrebonne, Quebec, for 23 years before announcing its sale in 2020.

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Miles Teller: The "Whiplash" star won plaudits for his charismatic performance as Rooster in 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick," and the actor looked to have channeled that same energy into a compelling showing at the American Century Championship at Tahoe in July [pictured].

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Alice Cooper: Widely regarded as one of the most talented celebrity golfers, the former rock star is as menacing a sight for competitors as he was on stage. Cooper has authored multiple books on the game, including "Golf Monster: How a Wild Rock'n'roll Life Led to a Serious Golf Addiction," in which he claims he is on the course 300 days a year.

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Kathryn Newton: She shot to fame with roles in "Big Little Lies" and "Paranormal Activity," but the American actress almost shot her way to the LPGA Tour as a highly-talented young player. Growing up on a course in Florida, Newton broke several high-school golfing records and had planned to attempt qualification for the 2012 US Open, before pulling out due to acting commitments.

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Meat Loaf: Flying down the fairway Like a Bat Out of Hell, the rock front-man has played several celebrity golf events, including the televised, Ryder Cup-style All Star Cup at Celtic Manor, Wales in 2006, where his American side suffered defeat to Team Europe [pictured].

Curry admitted that the tournament had been circled on his calendar ever since the Warriors’ hopes of an eighth franchise championship were ended by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals in May.

“That was a lot of the motivation, not giving up hope that it would have to take till I was retired to be able to play more golf throughout the year to be ready for this,” Curry said.

“Even the last two months since we finished our playoff run till now, the preparation for this tournament has kind of always been the running joke, and it paid off.”

‘Therapy’

The two-time NBA MVP’s love for golf is well-documented, and in 2022, he launched the “Underrated Golf Tour” to provide a competitive, all-expenses paid opportunity for underrepresented young players.

For Curry, the fairways are his “therapy” away from the mania of the basketball season, yet the NBA’s all-time three-point scoring leader approaches golf with identical levels of focus.

At the first tee Sunday, the guard could be seen checking his pulse.

“I do that during timeouts in basketball … I wanted to get a check on where it was,” Curry admitted.

“I do a lot of breathing work during basketball games to control all of that and recover quicker. So I try to bring that philosophy out here because I’m a fish out of water out here on the course dealing with those emotions.

“It’s entirely different in a basketball game because it’s so reactive on the hardwood, but out here, you have to be able to control all of those thoughts and just seek positivity into yourself. Just tell yourself you’re built for this because you’ve been through other scenarios where you needed to perform and you live with the results.

“It’s not like you can will it in. You just live with the results.”