Phil Mickelson’s pro-am partner for the Safeway Open might be more popular than him

Phil Mickelson makes his 2019-20 season debut at this week’s Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., but he might not even be the most popular athlete in his group.

That’s because Mickelson will be playing alongside NBA star Steph Curry in the Wednesday pro-am. Curry is a fan favorite most places he goes, and that will certainly be the case this week at Silverado, just 60 miles north of where Curry and the Warriors play their home games.

Curry has played in the Safeway pro-am before. He was with Justin Thomas in 2015 and Harold Varner III in 2016. Coincidentally — or maybe not… — Mickelson and Curry were chatting it up on Twitter last week, perhaps an early marketing campaign for the two superstars.

Mickelson and Curry tee off at 2:40 p.m. ET, and in the group behind them at 2:50 p.m. will be Justin Thomas and Tony Romo. Romo has a spot in the field this week in addition to the pro-am. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the Curry also received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Safeway but declined.