2019 Masters: Steph Curry emotional over Tiger Woods’ win
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OAKLAND – Sometimes, the Warriors doze off during a film session. This time, they leaped with joy.
The reason? The Warriors watched Tiger Woods win the Masters in what marked his fifth of that tournament, his 15th major title and his first major victory since the 2008 U.S. Open. Once that happened, Warriors star and golf aficionado Stephen Curry reacted just as emotionally as Woods did.
“I think Steph almost cried,” Warriors forward Kevon Looney observed.
Looney said those words with amusement. It does not appear he said those words with hyperbole. Following the Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Los Angeles Clippers of their first-round playoff series on Saturday, Curry sounded giddy when he sat at the podium and anticipated watching Woods golf for 18 holes.
“I’m hoping to see some Tiger magic,” Curry said. “It’s exciting for the game of golf when he’s doing what he’s doing.”
Greatest comeback story in sports! Congrats @TigerWoods Let me hold one of those 5 jackets one time!
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) April 14, 2019
And since Curry, Andre Iguodala and others love golf, well the Warriors showed higher priority in witnessing Woods’ come-back story than scrutinizing footage of their Game 1 win.
“Everybody was pretty excited. We had to delay our film session so we could watch the last couple of holes,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It was pretty amazing and fun to watch.”
The reasons for the Warriors delaying their film session from 11 am to 11:30 am on Sunday were fairly obvious. Following four back surgeries, the 43-year-old Woods wore his customary red polo shirt, shot a final-round 70 and moved one PGA tour victory (81) shy of Sam Snead’s record.
“We never thought he would ever play again. It’s kind of fun for us to watch other athletes in other sports and watch their determination and their adversity,” Kerr said. “Those are great lessons. We look at a lot of that stuff with our team. We’ve got tons of sports fans and it’s juts fun. It’s fun to see other athletes do their thing.”
Therefore, the Warriors invited tennis star Roger Federer to speak to the team during their pre-season trip last year in China. After suffering complications with a spinal fluid-leak following offseason back surgery in 2015, Kerr and Woods talked occasionally about each other’s respective recoveries. During his 34th birthday last year on a team off-day, Iguodala attended the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines down in San Diego both to golf with a group of friends and meet with Woods. Curry, who competed in the Web.com Tour last summer, also accepted an open invitation to golf with Woods even if he had some interest in “taking some cash.”
I’m bringing the wallet as long as you’re giving up strokes. Invite @PhilMickelson too! https://t.co/q7BQiOp8Jx
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) November 15, 2018
So when it came to the Warriors gathering for their film session, they decided they can hold off on discussing their 21 turnovers as well as their struggles with Montrezl Harrell (26 points and Lou Williams (25). After all, the Warriors still won by 17 points because of Curry (38 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists), Kevin Durant (23 points), Draymond Green (17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists), Looney (a +30 in plus-minus) and Iguodala (eight points, six assists).
“Everybody wants to be a part of history, the team included,” Looney said. “To watch a comeback story like that is big. That doesn’t happen every day and every year. To be able to watch it is exciting.”
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