Led by the Curry contingent, the Bay Area is set to be well-represented at the annual celebrity golf tournament on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
But Steph Curry isn’t just in the three-day American Century Championship for show. He’s in it to win, and he’s considered a contender.
Caesars Sportsbook gives Curry 12-to-1 odds to win the tournament, tied with former NBA player and coach Vinny Del Negro for the seventh-best odds. His dad Dell isn’t too far behind, with 85-to-1 odds ranking 17th out of 89 golfers in the field. (Brother Seth is way back at 350-to-1.)
Steph has played in the celebrity event at Edgewood Golf Course for several years now and finished 16th in last season’s event.
Curry’s top competition has a Bay Area flavor to it. Former Sharks captain Joe Pavelski is one of three at 8-to-1 odds (alongside former Braves pitcher John Smoltz and former LPGA star Annika Sorenstam). And former A’s pitcher Mark Mulder has 5-to-1 odds ahead of his attempt to win the celebrity tournament for the fourth time (he won it three years in a row from 2015-17).
Defending champion Tony Romo, the former Cowboys quarterback and current lead NFL game analyst for CBS, is also seeking his fourth title and has the best odds, at 5-to-2, and one-time winner and former tennis star Mardy Fish is second at 11-to-4.
Others with Bay Area ties include NFL Hall of Famers Steve Young and Jerry Rice of the 49ers and Charles Woodson and Tim Brown of the Raiders, as well as other former 49ers like Alex Smith and Robbie Gould.
Current Raider and East Palo Alto native Davante Adams is playing for the first time, too. His former Raider quarterback Derek Carr, now a Saint, will also tee it up alongside his brother David.
Steph’s Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala is also playing, as will former Cal star and new Jet quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Also competing, and bringing in the longest odds for winning the tournament at 7,500-to-1: Charles Barkley.
Curry’s golf game has been on display a lot this offseason, including in last month’s edition of The Match in Las Vegas, where Curry and his Warrior teammate Klay Thompson lost to Kansas City Chiefs duo Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Mahomes and Kelce will also be in Lake Tahoe this weekend, though Thompson will not be.
The tournament, which uses the Stableford scoring system that assigns points to each result on a hole, gets underway on Friday, with two hours of coverage available on Peacock from 1-3 p.m.
Both Saturday and Sunday’s rounds are being broadcasted from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on NBC and also available on Peacock.
Source: www.mercurynews.com