Charles Barkley is ecstatic about his performance at the 2024 American Century Championship. After placing 74th and 83rd in the previous two editions, he trained under Stan Utley for a year and finished 58th in the 2024 edition. The Hall of Famer has been running victory laps since his much-improved performance and called out celebrities, like Dan Patrick, for not playing in the tournament.
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During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Barkley brought up the topic of the host skipping the American Century Championship. Patrick responded by mocking Barkley’s 58th-place finish, claiming it wasn’t as impressive as he thinks. The Phoenix Suns icon rebutted that the radio host was a “coward” for not participating and joked about his last outing at the Lake Tahoe golf course. He said,
“There were five people who said to me, ‘Man, you gotta get Dan Patrick back out here’. I said, ‘Dan Patrick is a coward. He is scared to play golf on television’… I remember the last time you played in Tahoe, them little putts.”
The two argued about their golfing skills for a few minutes before deciding to settle the debate on the course. Patrick wasn’t the first celebrity Barkley accused of being scared to compete in the American Century Championship. He levied the same allegation on Steph Curry.
Barkley called out Stephen Curry for skipping the American Century Championship
The Golden State Warriors superstar won the American Century Championship with a stellar performance in 2023. However, he did not return to defend his crown this year as he was busy preparing for the Paris Olympics. But Barkley hilariously claimed that Curry missed the tournament to avoid facing him. In an interview with ESPN’s Hannah Storm, the Hall of Famer jokingly said,
“Steph Curry, he’s a coward, Hannah. He’s ducking me. Can you believe he knew I was going to play my best round ever? He’s gonna use some lame excuse like Olympic to duck me. What kind of excuse is that? The Olympics?”
Barkley unsurprisingly did not challenge Curry to a duel, as he’s aware that the four-time NBA champion is a significantly better golfer than him. The guard has already confirmed that he’ll play in the American Century Championship in 2025 and look to make it two wins in two appearances.
Barkley’s trash-talk may come back to haunt in a year. However, unlike Curry, he can spend the next 12 months preparing for the tournament. Perhaps he could shock the world by finishing above the Warriors superstar and mock him more.
