Stephen Curry fights early jitters before respectable round at Web.com event
Warriors superstar and Web.com Tour temp Stephen Curry battled early nerves and waywardness off the tee before salvaging a respectable first round Thursday at the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif.
Curry, a 2-handicap playing on a sponsor's exemption, said earlier in the week he had two goals: to make the cut and "just have fun."
It appeared he was accomplishing the latter, evidenced by his increasingly loose nature as the round unfolded on the way to a 4-over 74.
Drop the ball, shoot the ball. ⛳️
Birdie-par run for @StephenCurry30 . pic.twitter.com/QDHb7R4qla
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) August 3, 2017
But making the cut may be another matter. He was 3 over five holes into his opening round, only one stroke out of last in the field, before rallying to play the last four holes of his front nine in 1 under and make the turn at 2 over.
Before a larger than usual Web.com crowd, many clad in Warriors apparel, Curry started on the No. 10 tee.
Into the ⛳️ arena. @StephenCurry30 's opening round @EllieMaeClassic is underway. pic.twitter.com/0nhJmVYnkN
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) August 3, 2017
He pulled his opening tee shot left, where it came to rest in the cup-holder of a golf cart. He scrambled for a bogey and a couple of pars later was laughing and joking with playing partners Stephen Jaeger and Sam Ryder, Golf.com noted .
After back-to-back bogeys took him to plus-3, he finally hit a green in regulation on his sixth hole, flipping a wedge to 6 feet on the par-5 15th and rolling in the putt for birdie to get back to 2-over a third of the way through his round. After sinking the putt, he looked skyward, arms spread, as if in thanks and then shoulder-bumped his caddie.
Making your first #WebTour birdie like ... @StephenCurry30 , . pic.twitter.com/J6edMBPN1c
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) August 3, 2017
Curry showed some resilience as he got comfortable, following a bogey at No. 2 with a birdie on the following hole, then picking up his final birdie of the round on No. 6 after posting a double bogey at the par-4 fifth.
A bogey on the last wasn't the ideal way to end his day, but Curry was already looking ahead to Friday's second round.
"I want to play better tomorrow," he told reporters. "Now that I got the jitters out, hopefully that’ll happen."