Stateline, Nev. -- Finally, a Sport That Stephen Curry Looks Like He Should Be Playing

7/22/13 Stephen Curry looks smooth on golf course - San Francisco Chronicle

Stephen Curry plays a non-fussy game. He steps up to the ball and hits it.

Stateline, Nev. -- Finally, a sport that Stephen Curry looks like he should be playing.

Let's be honest: On a basketball court, Curry looks like a golfer - way too skinny, baby-faced, no tattoos, no tough-guy snarl.

That look worked against Curry when he was coming out of high school, when no major colleges took the puny, preppy kid or his game seriously.

I asked Curry on Thursday if back then he gave any thought to bagging his basketball dream and shifting all his athletic energy to golf, in which he not only looks the part, but plays the part, with a super-smooth and powerful game.

"That never crossed my mind," Curry said with a laugh.

So instead of teeing it up with Tiger and Phil and the boys at the British Open on Thursday, Curry was knocking it around with a wheezing sportswriter and three corporate guys on the shores of Lake Tahoe, in a little scramble tourney the day before the American Century Championship.

(Don't panic. I played, but this column will not be about my game. The only thing I'll say in that regard is that golf is the stupidest sport ever invented by man, with the possible exception of dinosaur rodeo.)

Basketball was always going to be Curry's life, even when Davidson was the best offer he got out of high school, even when he broke into the league with a Warriors team that wasn't sure if it wanted him. Remember Monta Ellis' dismissive declaration, before he'd even met Curry?

Looking at the super-lean Curry now, it's hard to imagine the rookie who was 20 pounds lighter than his current 188, and even younger looking. No wonder many fans, and some players, wondered if

www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/Stephen-Curry-looks-smooth-on-golf-course-4673996.php 3/6 7/22/13 Stephen Curry looks smooth on golf course - San Francisco Chronicle the Warriors once again had blown their first-round draft pick.

Stephen Curry took golf lessons for two weeks when he was 9 years old.

"It was a tough way to come in," Curry said. "Any rookie would get swallowed up by that. Fortunately, I got great advice from other players along the way. LeBron (James) helped me a lot, through the course of that season, and other guys."

Curry said he and players from other teams would communicate via text.

"Everybody (in the NBA) looks out for each other," Curry said. "There's just a camaraderie with teammates and other guys in the league."

Curry gained 15 pounds between his first and second season. He's working on adding another five

www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/Stephen-Curry-looks-smooth-on-golf-course-4673996.php 4/6 7/22/13 Stephen Curry looks smooth on golf course - San Francisco Chronicle this offseason, "which shouldn't be a problem. My wife is a great cook, so that helps. But I won't ever get to 200."

Curry said he has been doing conditioning and basketball workouts almost daily, and lifting weights four times a week.

In golf, as in basketball, Curry is self-taught. His father, Dell, worked with Steph's jump shot briefly, when Steph was making the transition from scrawny hucker to real shooter, but the shot Curry used to set the NBA record for most three-pointers in a season, that's all his own invention.

Curry said he took golf lessons for two weeks when he was 9 years old, and not since then, and he almost never plays during the season. And yet he has the type of game that makes you want to chuck your bag into Lake Tahoe, except they were loaner clubs.

Curry plays a non-fussy game. Steps up to his ball and hits. No practice swings, no waggles, no nervous habits. Grip, rip. Easy money.

He hits the fairways, hits the greens, hits it long and straight. Curry's form appears flawless. Just like on the basketball court, with a club in his hands, he looks ultra-relaxed.

On one hole, it looked like he was playing HORSE. His approach shot hit a sand-trap rake and kicked toward the green.

"You didn't call 'bank' off the rake," I said.

There are tons of big sports names and celebs here, but Curry might be the darling of the field, a rising star among men who mostly have had their day. Curry said the person he is most looking forward to meeting is a comedian.

"I'm a big Game Show Network guy," Curry said, "so Bill Engvall. He used to do 'Lingo.' I'm a big fan of his."

Curry had an early starting time Thursday, and his gallery grew steadily. He stopped after every hole and signed dozens of autographs.

Watching him interact with the fans, I wondered if Curry feels more pressure now, since he and his www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/Stephen-Curry-looks-smooth-on-golf-course-4673996.php 5/6 7/22/13 Stephen Curry looks smooth on golf course - San Francisco Chronicle teammates dynamited the Warriors out of the league's basement and into sudden respectability. Opposing coaches are spending this summer plotting to stop the league's new scoring threat, the Warriors' long-range threat.

"I wouldn't call it pressure," Curry said, "I'd call it just expectation. They expect us to do better, to do what we did last year, if not go even further.

"Last year, nobody had us making the playoffs, and nobody had us winning either (playoff) series. So we just gotta keep it simple. It didn't weigh me down last summer, it won't weigh me down this summer. Just go out and play."

He didn't look worried.

Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @scottostler

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