The American Century Championship, which is considered the Super Bowl of celebrity golf tournaments, returns to Edgewood Tahoe this week with practice rounds Wednesday and Thursday and the three-day tournament running Friday-Sunday. Here is an overview of the event that welcomed 76,810 fans during last year’s tournament.
Who’s in? The full field (as of June 26) is listed on the American Century Championship’s website here. Fan favorites like Charles Barkley, Travis Kelce, Tony Romo, Miles Teller, Aaron Rodgers, John Elway, Josh Allen, Brian Baumgartner and Ray Romano all return for another season. Jim McMahon and Jack Wagner are back for the 35th straight year as the only players who have appeared in the field each year of the tournament’s history.
Who’s out? Defending champion Steph Curry won’t be at the tournament as he prepares for the Olympics as part of Team USA. A few other notable names who have played in recent years (Patrick Mahomes, Justin Timberlake, Canelo) also aren’t in this year’s field, although they’ve been replaced by some notable newcomers.
Who’s new? The ACC will have plenty of new blood in first-time players Jason Kelce; Alex Rodriguez; Albert Pujols; Trevor Lawrence; Rob McElhenney; Austin Reaves; Joe Flacco; Blake Griffin; Matthew Tkachuk; John Carlson; Kyle Juszczyk; and Chris Harrison. Among those returning after long layoffs are Carson Daly and Bobby Flay.
Who’s the favorite? Mardy Fish, who led Curry heading into the 54th hole last season, is the betting-line favorite at +250. He’s followed by three-time champion Tony Romo (+375) with newcomer Reaves (+500) third. Joe Pavelski (+550) and John Smoltz (+600) are considered the two best players in the field to never win the event — non-Anika Sorenstam division — and are the fourth and fifth favorites, respectively.
What’s the scoring system? The ACC uses a modified Stableford scoring system that rewards birdies and eagles, which can be plentiful at Edgewood’s altitude. Players get 10 points for a double eagle, eight for a hole-in-one, six for an eagle, three for a birdie, one for a par, zero for a bogey and minus-two for a double bogey or worse. Last year’s winner, Curry, scored 75 points. Generally, the winner will shoot somewhere in the low-70s over the 54-hole, three-day tournament.
How do I get tickets? Saturday’s tickets have already sold out, but you can buy tickets for other rounds here. All tickets will be sold online with no tickets sold at the gate.
Television broadcast: The ACC will air on NBC, Peacock and the Golf Channel. Friday’s broadcast is 1-3 p.m. live on Peacock with a tape delay on the Golf Channel from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s broadcasts are live on NBC and Peacock from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Additionally, Nevada Sports Net will tape special hour-long editions of NSN Tonight from Edgewood Tahoe on Thursday and Friday that will air at 6, 8 and 10 p.m. on NSN and 10:35 p.m. on Fox 11. We will have 19th Hole wrapup shows Saturday (7:30 p.m. on KRNV; 9:30 p.m. on NSN) and Sunday (6 p.m. on KRNV; 10 p.m. on NSN).
The pick: I’m going with Fish, who was in line to win last year’s tournament until a fan yelled during the backswing of his drive on the final hole, leading to a poor shot that opened the door for Curry’s heroics. Fish has somehow only won one ACC, that coming in 2020, which had no attendance due to COVID. Fish needs to win one with his family in attendance, and that should come this year, although it would be cool to see Sorenstam win this tournament as a semi-local (she lives part-time in Incline).
The moment: The ACC had a couple of all-time moments at last year’s tournament, including Curry’s walk-off eagle to win on the final hole. Earlier in the week, he had a hole-in-one on No. 7 and exploded with joy while running the length of the hole. During last month’s ACC media day, members of the media were asked to recreate Curry’s celebration. Below is that video, which includes a couple of NSN staffers.
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