Web.com tourney ‘a dream’ for Curry
Warriors fans know this from watching Stephen Curry launch all those preposterous three-point shots a few steps inside the midcourt line. Or seeing him knife into the lane for those crazy, acrobatic reverse layups.
He’s willing to take chances and has no fear of failure. None at all.
That’s useful, because Curry is wandering into a daunting, unfamiliar frontier — and he’s likely to fail. He’s putting himself way out there by accepting a sponsor exemption to play in the Ellie Mae Classic, the Web. com Tour event in Hayward in early August.
First, understand this: Curry absolutely loves golf. He plays as often as possible during the NBA offseason, and he’s always eager to talk about the game. He was genuinely excited to spend time with LPGA star Lydia Ko after a Warriors practice in March 2016.
Another relevant point: Curry’s golf skills are comparable to those of former 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, but their objectives are much different.
Rice made three appearances in the event at TPC Stonebrae (2010-12), in part because he hoped to chase a second career on the course. He was six years retired as a football player in 2010 and craved the competition, at least until he realized he was out of his league playing against Web.com pros.
Curry is in his prime as an NBA player and seems to understand the enormity of his challenge. He’s not talking about making the cut at Stonebrae, because he probably knows he has virtually no chance to do so. That’s also not the point. “People asking why I’m playing,” Curry tweeted Wednesday. “Unexpected invite & Always a dream 2 play golf w/the pros. @WebDotComTour has so much talent it’s unreal …
“Obviously want to play well & see how I handle tournament golf. No expectations except keep ball out of the gallery and not go Happy Gilmore.”
Another tweet from Curry mentioned the Warriors Community Foundation, the tournament’s charitable beneficiary. His presence obviously will boost funds going to the foundation, which has donated $7 million to Bay Area youth since 2012.
Soon after The Chronicle’s story on Curry’s sponsor exemption was posted online Wednesday morning, Twitter bubbled with reaction. Much of it was negative, from insular, hard-core golf fans bemoaning that Curry was taking away a spot from a deserving pro. Talk about short-sighted. For the record, the field at Stonebrae will number 156 players. Tournament officials have two restricted sponsor exemptions, which must go to Web.com Tour members, and two unrestricted exemptions.
One unrestricted exemption went to the winner of Tuesday’s junior qualifier (Colt McNealy, brother of former Stanford standout Maverick McNealy). Curry got the other one.
That leaves 154 spots for tour members. If a player can’t earn his way into a field that big, then it’s time to fall back on the allencompassing adage: Play better.
Curry is one of the world’s most recognizable athletes, and the most popular active sports figure in the Bay Area (with apologies to Kevin Durant, Buster Posey and Derek Carr). He will bring interest and attention to an under-the-radar event. It was a complete nobrainer to invite him.
Curry also will help the Web.com Tour by showing how good its players really are. He probably will shoot something like 77-81 and miss the cut by a country mile. Along the way, he’ll draw big crowds, sign lots of autographs and get people talking about the Ellie Mae Classic.
That sounds like a good thing. Marin amateur in Senior Open: Larry Salk is a 53-yearold wholesale electronic components distributor who lives in Fairfax. He mostly plays social golf, when he’s not working or raising two teenage kids with his wife, Danielle.
Salk also has a tee time in this week’s U.S. Senior Open.
He advanced through sectional qualifying May 30 at Green Valley Country Club in Fairfield. Salk shot 69, then survived a three-men-for-two spots playoff.
So there he went Monday at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., playing a practice round with Michael Allen (another Bay Area guy) and 1992 U.S. Open champion Tom Kite. Salk struggled to comprehend this was actually happening, in part because Kite was one of his heroes growing up.
“My heart was racing on the No. 1 tee,” Salk said in a phone interview. “That was really enjoyable. We had a lot of fun.”
Salk played at San Diego State in the 1980s, dabbled on minitours after turning pro and spent one year on the South African Tour. He enjoyed the adventure — Tom Lehman and John Daly also were there at the time — but soon realized he wasn’t interested in the itinerant lifestyle of a tour pro.
“So I wrapped it up and got my amateur status back,” Salk said.
Now, all these years later, he earned a spot in America’s national championship for 50and-older players. That’s pretty cool.
Salk tees off Thursday at 11:40 a.m., alongside pros Joe Boros and Jaime Gomez.