LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – During American Century Championship Week in Lake Tahoe, many of the golfing celebrities stop by the media room to answer questions about many topics, just not their chosen sports.
Phil Weidinger of Weidinger Public Relations has been the man behind the microphone, asking the questions for 34 of the 37 celebrity golf tournaments at Edgewood Tahoe.
He is prepared for celebrities entering the media room, and he was ready for several on Thursday, the day of the Celeb-Am, before the tournament begins. Stephen Curry, Joe Pavelski, Mardy Fish, Larry Fitzgerald, Jake Owen, Tony Romo, and Annika Sörenstam all joined in the conversation.
Previous tournament winners Curry, Fish, and Pavelski all took chairs in front of members of the media and Weidinger on Thursday.
A young fan approached Curry as he walked to the tee box at hole 18, giving him a Davidson Wildcat No. 30 custom sombrero that his grandmother had made. The Golden State Warriors star put the hat on and made a great tee shot wearing it. Curry played for the Davidson Wildcats from 2006 to 2009, wearing jersey #30.
Weidinger asked Curry about the walk on the famous hole 17. Loud music from the boats, a basketball hoop to play, fun interactions with the fans, and other players
“17 is just a full adrenaline rush, playing that hole and being in front of the fans and the lakeside there,” said Curry. “And the walk is kind of underrated. Good gathering spot. There’s a lot of activity going on over there. Fans are awesome, got the Travis Mathew hoop over there, shooting. I enjoy it.”
“Every day it just keeps getting better and better. And every year it gets better and better,” Curry added.
Fish and Curry both said they’d love LeBron James to hop on a jet and get to Tahoe to play in the American Century.
Fish, who has won twice, didn’t play well in 2025 after winning the prior year.
“I felt bad for the rest of the competition, and I wanted somebody else to win,” joked Fish.
“There’s relationships that you’ve built out here,” said Fish of playing in the American Century Championship. “It’s not even just the guys and gals that are playing. It’s more the people around, too, the guys that put on the event and stuff. It just becomes a family sort of event. It’s super special. It’s the best week of the year.”
Question: Joe, 2025 defending champion. You came into this tournament last year with a game face on and a lot of confidence. Looks like it’s still there?
JOE PAVELSKI: I guess. Game face — yeah, it worked out last year. It’s one of those times — going back to being able to play a little bit more — it really felt like I could get a few reps in and felt comfortable. And knew — we lost in the playoff, had third-place, fourth-place, seconds, that it was like you get enough close looks, you’ve got to get something done.
Question: Who is winning this thing?
MARDY FISH: Joe’s winning.
JOE PAVELSKI: Mardy.
STEPH CURRY: I have to say myself. You all picked both of you. If all of us would say somebody else, we’d be lying because we all think we’re going to win.
Tony Romo, when asked what he thought about his odds to win at 8-1, when he is normally around 3-1 after being a three-time winner of the tournament (2018, 2019, 2022): “I think it’s because I stunk at golf for a few years. That’s probably why you slowly move back. I had a little bit of success here for a long run. And then little injuries, one year was the wrist. I had broke it, didn’t realize before I got here. But you love the tournament so much you try to play through it and everything. That took a good year of time off, almost with the wrist.
Annika Sörenstam, who won 72 LPGA titles and 10 major championships during her 18 years on the tour, was asked about staying focused when playing against the men, when they hit with pitching wedges, and she’s with her 5-iron: It would be nice, but the reality is what it is. I remember on tour, I was longer than some players. You’ve just got to play your own game. But certainly the last 10, 15 years, there’s a big distance gap. But I’m used to it now. So I’ve just got to focus on my strength. And we know it’s about getting the ball in the hole. Not really, you know, how; it’s how many. I don’t try to let it bother me. I’m just excited to be here. (Tony Romo chimed in, “Her 5-irons are still inside of a lot of the pitching wedges.)
Jake Owen about playing on hole 17: My whole career of playing music, I’ve really enjoyed the bigger the party, the more fun it is. Surprisingly enough, on that hole throughout this tournament, I’ve made a lot of birdies. It makes me laugh because I think I’ve always been the guy that’s like, a hey, watch this guy kind of dude. Sometimes, like, I ride in the line of failure is actually fun for me because the idea of
pulling it off is just so fulfilling that I think in that moment it’s the one hole where you go out there and in your mind you’re kind of like, all right, y’all watch this. And there’s music blaring, which I’m used to that anyway. So I find comfort in that hole.
Larry Fitzgerald on getting into the Hall of Fame: I’m really excited about it in a few
weeks, but right now I just want to come out here this week and hold my own. I got a couple of games with some guys out here that I need to beat — Ray Allen, Dwight Freeney, Jerome Bettis, Nate Bargatze, a few others. This could be a very lucrative trip or a very expensive trip. That’s what I’m really worried about. After I leave on Sunday, we’ll start to refocus my attention back onto what’s going on in Canton in a few weeks.