Inside the American Century Championship field: 5 players to watch at Edgewood Tahoe

Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry and Jerry Rice (background) have both competed in Korn Ferry Tour events over the years.

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If it wasn’t clear by The Match 4, held Tuesday in Montana, then it’ll be clear by the end of the week in Tahoe, Nevada. It’s Celebrity Golf Season, folks! 

This week we’ve got the American Century Championship, the annual celebrity competition of sports and entertainment figures, duking it out at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. Tony Romo is the Vegas favorite … but will he actually get it done? There are a number of low-handicapped celebrities who can take the crown from the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback. 

With the 54-hole event kicking off Friday, now is the time to dial in on people to watch from the 89-person field. You can find the entire field here, but below are some headliners to keep an eye on.

The Curry family 

They are the only family taking part, and there are three of them. What can we obviously look forward to? A sibling/family rivalry. First place might be wrapped up, since Stephen has often shown he’s probably the best golfer in the bunch. But who is second best? Can Seth Curry take down his father? Is Dell reaching his peak as a golfer? That will be the game within the game. 

Patrick Mahomes II

We know where Mahomes sits on the NFL quarterback hierarchy. He’s gotta be No. 1 of the current players when it comes to the gridiron. But where does he rank in the golfing quarterback world? He’ll have Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr and Ryan Fitzpatrick to compete with for current QBs, and another bunch of talented former signal-callers. We’ll have a good idea of his game by the end of the week. 

Mark Mulder

As far as recent years go, Mulder is an American Century dynasty. He won three straight iterations of the event in 2015 to 2017, but hasn’t triumphed since, while Romo has won multiple. Can Mulder regain his winning form in Tahoe? Or is his best golf behind him? It might be a two-horse race.

Dylan Dreyer 

Dreyer is one of just two women in the field, and the one the golf world knows the least (Kira K. Dixon is seemingly everywhere in golf these days, now working as a correspondent for Golf Channel. We know her well.). What is Dreyer’s game like? For one, she clearly enjoys the sport a lot (and this event in particular). She was even profiled by The Met Golfer magazine earlier this spring.

Charles Barkley 

Is there anyone else whose performance is more entertaining? More must-watch? Fans attending in Tahoe will seek out one golfer above all others, and it’s Barkley. This is a man who for years failed to make a single par at the event. But his up-and-down golf game has recently come back up a bit. And no one has more fun with it than him, which is something all of us watching at home can certainly respect. 

Sean Zak

Golf.com Editor

Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just finished a book about the summer he spent in St. Andrews.