In three rounds at the Web.com Tour's Ellie Mae Classic, Steph Curry had broken 75 each time: a pair of 74s to miss the cut in his debut in 2017, then an eye-opening 71 in the 2018 first round that had him a sub-par round away from potentially making the cut.
That under-par round didn't materialize on Friday at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif.
Curry shot 16-over 86 in the second round to fall into last place in the 154-player field, missing the cut for the second-consecutive year.
The Warriors guard lost control of his round early, losing two tee shots on the third hole before finally getting in play with his fifth stroke. He made a 9 on the hole, sending his round into a tailspin. All told, Curry shot 46 on the front nine, but it was the third hole that ended any chance he had of making the cut.
The final Friday tally had Curry card more triples-or-worse (three) than birdies (two). That's the product of hitting just five of 13 fairways and eight greens in regulation. Compare those figures to finding eight fairways and 14 greens on Thursday.
“Today was interesting all the way around," Curry said, suggesting the flaws in his game had been "exposed" on Friday. "The wheels fell off on the third hole. I couldn't hit a drive today to save my soul. Just tried to have as much fun as possible down the stretch and hit some good shots.
“When you can’t get off the tee in a professional tournament like this you’re fighting an uphill battle. That was kind of the theme of the whole day.”
Unfortunately, Curry isn't skilled enough to scrape it around with the way he was driving it on Friday. Curry said golf is unlike basketball, where he can find a way to contribute to the team when he's not knocking down shots.
''It's the same way I do on the court when I'm not making shots,'' Curry said. ''You just find something to focus on that you can do. For me, it was just trying to take each shot and just have fun with it and trying to hit a good shot and not really get too down about the result if it wasn't what I was expecting.''
In the end, Curry finished 33 shots behind 36-hole leader Alex Prugh, who shot 60 on Friday to surge into the lead.
