FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 9th, 2021

Friday RD 1 News and Notes and Saturday Preview for the American Century Championship

FRIDAY RD 1 NEWS & NOTES AND SATURDAY PREVIEW FOR THE AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

Double Eagle: First in the 32-year history of tournament. Mike Modano, the NHL Hall of Famer who spent most of his career with the Minnesota North Stars and the Dallas Stars, holed out a 205 yard 7-iron on the 501-yard 18th hole for an albatross. It earned 10 points in the Modified Stableford scoring format to vault Modano into a tie for the lead at 25 points with MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

The Curry Trio: Another tournament first: three members of the same family played together and in the same threesome. Stephen scored 21 points and is in 8th place; Dell had 13 points and is T-21; while Seth scored 7 points and is T-36.

Annika Sorenstam is on the leaderboard at T-5 with a 23-point performance.

Jack Wagner, 61, one of two players along with Jim McMahon to play in all 32 Tahoe tournaments since its inception in 1990, and the oldest winner in 2011, is T-3 with Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars with 24 points.

Ticket Sales: Friday’s supply of 6,000 tickets sold-out – the tournament is  limiting attendance due to COVID precautions. Saturday also is sold-out with tickets still available for Sunday, online only at www.AmericanCenturyChampionship.com for $30 each.

Zamboni on Site: Temperatures were in the high 80s at Lake Tahoe but there a Zamboni parked near the No. 8 tee. The Zamboni was a gift to the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority from the National Hockey League following its February Winter Games at Edgewood Tahoe for use in its Tahoe South Events Center, currently under construction with a planned opening date in December 2022.

Korbel Hole-In-One Contest Results: Actor Michael Pena won the annual contest that featured 13 celebrities with two shots each on the lakefront par 3, 155-yard, 17th hole. Pena put the closest shot to 16-feet, 7 inches. An ace offered $250,000, split between the celebrity and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a local non-profit organization. A shot within 2-feet split $25,000, and outside 2-feet resulted in a $5,000 donation. Competitors included Patrick Mahomes, Rob Riggle, Michael Strahan, Ray Romano, Travis Kelce, Larry the Cable Guy, Canelo, Roger Clemens, CC Sabathia, and Alfonso Ribeiro, and Brian Baumgartner.

Audio, video and transcripts of press conferences available:

Scores and Saturday pairings/tee times are available: www.americancenturychampionship.com.

Getty Images available: American Century Championship Pictures and Photos – Getty Images

Friday, July 9 Press Conferences Video, Audio & Transcripts for (at links above):

  • John Smoltz
  • Jack Wagner
  • Annika Sorenstam
  • Mike Modano & Joe Pavelski

Saturday Airtimes: NBC 2:30-6 p.m. ET

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The 32nd annual, 54-hole tournament is set for Friday – Sunday, July 9-11, taking place at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Lake Tahoe. The 54-hole tournament will be televised nationally by NBC and NBCSN with special coverage on GOLF Channel. The celebrity field of 80-plus sports and entertainment stars includes   Justin Timberlake, Stephen Curry, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Charles Barkley, CC Sabathia, Ray Romano and John Smoltz. The tournament has raised over $5.5 million for national and local charities and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

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