Curry tries his sharpshooting in another sport

NBA star to play Web.com event, retain amateur status

HAYWARD, Calif. — Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry is set to test his golf game against the pros.

The Web.com Tour said Wednesday that Curry, coming off his second NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors, will play in the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae on Aug. 3-6.

It’ll be the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event for Curry, who has competed in various celebrity events and pro-ams. The top 25 on Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list will earn PGA Tour cards.

Curry will maintain his amateur status, competing on an unrestricted sponsor exemption in the event that benefits the Warriors Community Foundation.

Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice played in the event in 2011 and 2012. He missed the cut in 2011 with rounds of 83 and 76 and withdrew in 2012 after playing 27 holes in 23 over.

Also Wednesday, Nissan’s upscale Infiniti brand announced that Curry would be its new global brand ambassador. The point guard will be featured in ads for the Q50 sports sedan beginning this summer.

PGA: In Potomac, Md., Rickie Fowler, who has an endorsement deal with tournament title sponsor Quicken Loans, is the only player from the world’s top 10 in the field of this week’s PGA Tour event, and just two more are inside the top 20: Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed.

Tiger Woods’ extended absence from the sport is being felt off the course as well. He is missing the second of the two Tour events that benefit his foundation.

He skipped the Genesis Open at Riviera in February because of his injured back, and now he’s being treated at a clinic for his use of prescription drugs. The stint in treatment follows his arrest on a DUI charge in May during which he had several medications, but no alcohol, in his system, according to police in Jupiter, Fla.

“We all would love for him to be here, but at the end of the day, for him to put his foot down and go ahead and take care of himself and try to get better, that’s more important than playing golf or being here for a golf tournament,” Patrick Reed said. “We all wish him the best and we want him out here, every one of us.”

This is the 11th edition of the Quicken Loans National, which launched with great fanfare in 2007. With Woods as the host, a field limited to 120 players and a storied Washington-area venue in Congressional Country Club, the event seemed destined to become a standout on the PGA Tour. It didn’t hurt that Woods presented the trophy to himself twice, in 2009 and 2012.

But reality eventually set in. With Congressional either unable or unwilling to host every year, the tournament has bounced among several courses. And its spot on the calendar — between the U.S. and British Opens — has caused many players to skip the event, either to rest between majors or to play in Europe.

LPGA: In Olympia Fields, Ill., newly minted world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu goes for her third win when the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season — tees off today on her 27th birthday. She comes in off a dominating win last week in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship , which made her the first repeat winner in 16 events this season.

Ryu won the ANA Inspiration in April for her second major title after front-running Lexi Thompson was tripped up by a four-shot penalty. Ryu beat Thompson on the first hole of sudden death. U.S. SENIOR OPEN: The event returns to Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., for the second time. It hosted the U.S. Women’s Open twice. Babe Didrikson Zaharias won by 12 shots over Betty Hicks in 1954, and Hollis Stacy won by one shot over Cibola High graduate Rosie Jones in 1984.

John Daly, who withdrew because of a shoulder injury, is the only player on the PGA Tour Champions averaging over 300 yards in driving distance.