By Sevanah Sandoval
Did you know that on July 16th, 2023, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry made history in the 34th American Century Championship? With less than one million viewers of the tournament, many have missed Curry’s legendary hole-in-one shot that marked a large step forward for Black Athletes.
In the annual celebrity golf tournament featuring prominent sports and entertainment stars, Curry found himself neck and neck with former professional tennis player Mardy Fish for first place. After making a hole-in-one shot at the eighteenth hole, he was able to secure his win over Fish by a mere two points. This marked his first time coming in first place in his ten years participating in the championship.
Upon sinking the shot, Curry threw his hat in the air in celebration and ran to embrace his wife, Ayesha Curry, as cheers erupted from the spectators.
Curry later commented on his shot to NBC Bay Area, admitting “I missed a lot of putts on the back nine. I played well. Just gotta make one, and that was the right one to make.”
Due to Curry’s amateur ranking in golf, the $125,000 first place prize had to be donated to a charity of his choice. Curry declared his choice to donate the money back to the American Century Championship (ACC), showing support for its charitable investments.
Curry’s donation has meaningful implications beyond golf and athletics. The ACC makes large donations to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, one of the most influential medical research centers. This money will support the institute’s goal of finding “innovative approaches to the causes, treatment, and prevention of disease.” This will fund resources and create more opportunities for advances in research into cancer treatment and other pressing illnesses.
Curry’s win is not only legendary because of his precise shot or donations to advance medical research. In fact, he was also the first active athlete to win the championship since 2000, and only the fifth overall. Beyond this, Curry is also the first Black athlete to win the championship. This proud moment in sports history will be memorialized by the step forward for Black athletes in a predominantly white sport, making Curry’s win completely un-fore-gettable.
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