You are a big fan of professional golf, even fantasy golf. Where does golf rank in your favorite sports, and why do you like watching it? Right now it’s my favorite sport outside of basketball. I grew up loving track and field, and I like watching football. Right now I like watching golf. The TV’s pretty much on Golf Channel unless my friends are around changing chan- nels. I like watching The Golf Fix and Golf Central.
My fantasy team I do with some
good friends from the Chicago area. We have a lot of fun with that. + + +
Do you have a favorite pro? That’s a hard question. I’ve met a few of the guys and it’s hard to pick a favorite. I was able to go to the Match Play at Hard- ing Park. Rory (McIlroy) has that aura about him. He’s on a mission. And he’s a nice guy, so I like Rory. I like a lot of guys. I like Dustin
Johnson. I like (Jordan) Spieth of course, he’s very humble. I was able to meet Jason Day. He was at a game in Cleveland during the Finals. Justin Thomas is a good friend now. We had dinner and connected. Ricky Barnes is an Arizona guy. It’s hard to say I have a favorite
player. I like watching a lot of those guys play. + + +
Do you have a pro’s swing in mind when you play? That’s a good question because I’m trying to figure out how to hit the ball straight. I try to follow taller guys and watch their swings. I know Ian Poulter is a little taller; Henrick Stenson is a tall guy. Tiger is pretty tall. He’s taller than Chris Paul. So I’ve always watched Tiger, even when I was younger and didn’t know much about golf. Just him being an African-American golfer I watched him. I try to follow the taller guys.
+ + + Iguodala pulls up for a jumper
What did you like about golf when you started? Just watching Tiger a lot. That got me into golf at a young age. Just watching it. I never had clubs. Once I got to the pros I had a set, but I had a huge driver and I kept
slicing it over and over. I had a few friends who played, but I never really practiced, and I didn’t understand the mechanics of the swing. Once I got to Golden State and
+ + +
started hanging with Pete Myers, he taught me how to hit a draw. Once I figured out how to hit a draw after slicing the ball every time I was on the course, that’s what got me the bug. Then after you learn how to hit a draw, you figure out how to hit a cut, you learn how to work the course a little bit.
You are a 16 handicap. How good can you get? It’s funny because I was like a 32 last year. I cut it in half. I broke 100 for the first time last year, and ever since I’ve been really trying to get my handicap down and do the little things right. Chipping and putting and getting off the tee. If I can get off the tee, I can shoot
a pretty low score. I’m trying to get to single digits. I figure, give me another year to a year and a half and I’ll be single digits. I’m grinding out there. I’m working
every day. + + +
So you played every day over the summer? My summer was busy so I wasn’t able to play as much but I probably played more than any other NBA guy. For my wedding, we were there (in Mexico) for five days and I played four days. And on the honeymoon I played every day. I played in my first tournament
with a friend from Chicago and we did pretty well. I played at Pebble, Pasatiempo, Spyglass, Spanish—so I was getting around. + + +
Who’s in your dream foursome? I know Steph answered that so of course Steph would have to be in it. Tiger Woods and probably Pete Myers. That would be a great round because Steph’s just a great guy to be around and he has one of the best swing tempos I’ve ever seen. Tiger is a guy I grew up watching, and Pete Myers is there for comic relief. He’ll make sure we’re having fun out there.
FALL 2015 /
NCGA.ORG / 47
PHOTO: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
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