The American Century Celebrity Golf Championship is currently underway, as 86 of the world’s most popular athletes, musicians, comedians, and actors compete for glory and bragging rights against one another. One of the most infamously bad celebrity golfers is Hall of Fame basketball player and NBA analyst Charles Barkley, who’s clumsy and awkward swing has been ridiculed online for several years now. Barkley entered the contest at 7500-1 odds, and Vegas was at one point offering a +500 line for Barkley to crack the top 70. But Barkley made promises for this year’s tournament that his skill on the golf course had improved tremendously. So far in the tournament, the former Phoenix Suns big man is proving his doubters wrong.
As of Friday afternoon, Barkley is sitting in 55th place, tied at a -1 stroke with four other players, including 2022 Super Bowl champion Andrew Whitworth and former Green Bay Packer A.J. Hawk. Sitting just one stroke ahead of them is former NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes.
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Of Barkley’s many critics, one of the most outspoken was 2022 NBA Finals MVP Steph Curry, who himself is sitting at 16th place tied alongside former pro golfer and current Instagram model Paige Spiranac, took shots at Barkley’s chances to win the tournament at a press conference on Thursday.
“No, hell no,” Curry said when asked about Barkley’s chances to win. “Clip that, send it to him, let him play it on every tee box. There’s no way he’s doing it.”
Even with all the doubters, Barkley has shown great improvement in his game in the early rounds of the four day event. His best golf performance prior to this came in 2021, where he finished at 76th place.