AKRON, Ohio — As Stephen Curry tried to replicate the “Shot in the Dark” made famous by Tiger Woods during the NEC Invitational in 2000, nearly 100 junior golfers surrounded the NBA superstar Saturday afternoon to offer advice and motivation.
Curry paused after his fourth shot with a 9-iron from 167 yards on the 18th hole at Firestone Country Club’s South Course and studied a video of his swing captured by a spectator’s smartphone.
Then two more attempts next to a plaque commemorating Woods’ iconic moment did the trick. Widely considered the greatest shooter in basketball history, Curry had hit the green. Loud cheers and fist bumps followed the successful shot, which Curry would later explain he wanted to try since he first saw it as a kid.
The players on the Underrated Golf Tour rallied around Curry in his birthplace of Akron, Ohio, a fitting scene because the Golden State Warriors guard has been an uplifting force in their lives since last year.
“It was the best — memories that we’re all creating — and hopefully it’s just the start of a lot of great things,” Curry said during a one-on-one interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Golf’s lack of diversity has compelled Curry to act. In 2022, the four-time NBA champion and two-time MVP launched Underrated Golf with a mission to increase the number of competitive golfers from diverse communities.
Curry receives Ambassador of Golf Award
Curry’s advocacy through the tour and the guarantee he issued in 2019 to fully fund men’s and women’s golf at Howard University for six years led to him being named the 2023 recipient of the Ambassador of Golf Award. Last year’s winner, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, congratulated Curry in a video message played Saturday night during a dinner reception at Firestone Country Club.
Curry called the honor “very surreal” and said it provides “more inspiration and encouragement to keep doing what I’m doing.” The award came on the heels of Curry being named the NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion in May.
Less than 2% of all golfers are Black or Latino, according to Underrated Golf’s website. And the 156-player field at last month’s U.S. Open included no known Black players.
“We’re another piece to that puzzle that’s trying to solve what you saw at the U.S. Open,” Curry said. “You realize it’s a long scope of work that needs to be done to…
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