HAYWARD, Calif. _ Stephen Curry missed the cut Friday night against professional golfers one notch below the PGA Tour.

But not before leaving some of golf’s best players impressed that a two-time MVP for the Golden State Warriors could enter their arena and look respectable.

Curry opened with a 4-over 74 on the TPC Stonebrae and needed a career round to stay for the weekend. He shot a 74 again on Friday to finish tied for 148th. He missed the cut by 11 shots.

Curry bogeyed two of the first three holes on Friday and shot a 39 on a 3-hour front nine. He made five straight pars and birdied No. 14 but he played the final three holes at plus-1 with two bogeys and a birdie on 17.

No matter.

“That was awesome what he did yesterday,” British Open champion Jordan Spieth said Friday at the Bridgestone Invitational. “I think he certainly beat most everybody’s expectations, but I don’t think that really surprised him. It was pretty cool _ really cool _ to see.

“You see him fist-pumping out there, and just him talking about how nervous he was when he heard his name called, it just makes us feel a little better when sometimes some of the stuff he does looks like a robot.”

Stanford alum Andrew Yun shot a 62 on Friday and finished two rounds at 8-under 127. Fellow American Brandon Harkins is two shots back after rounds of 64 and 65.

One of the highlights for Curry in the opening round was a long birdie putt and telling his caddie to “Go get that” from the cup. That was the famous line Spieth said to his caddie at Royal Birkdale two weeks ago after a 50-foot eagle putt to take the lead.

“To be honest, I think it’s pretty special for a two-time MVP to be able to shoot 74 at a pro event and beat other pros,” former PGA champion Jason Day said.

No one expected much from Curry, who last year played in the pro-am at the PGA Tour’s season opener in Napa. The field included players who have competed in majors this year and seven players who have won on the PGA Tour.

The question in some corners was how high his score would be.

“I was asked if I thought he was going to break 80, and that’s the hand grenade question,” Paul Casey said. “But 4 over is really good. It’s a lot of pressure, and he exceeded my expectations.”

Zach Johnson, a two-time major champion, said he has a friend who knows Curry and said he was a good player. The score in the first round was enough to make a believer out of Johnson.

“Clearly, he is,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that golf course. Someone said they shoot pretty low there often, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to put the ball in the hole. First round as an amateur in a professional tournament? That’s pretty good.”

Johnson vaguely recalled the time Jerry Rice, the Hall of Fame receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, played in the tournament. Rice shot 90.

“He’s a good athlete. They’re both good athletes,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to be playing for the 49ers.”

HAYWARD, Calif. – Stephen Curry pumped his right fist, raised his arms in the air with club in hand and gave a firm shoulder bump to caddie Jonnie West, his golf partner on road trips with the Golden State Warriors.

A birdie at last after he scored three bogeys over his initial five holes Thursday.

There was the animated, confident Steph that NBA fans know so well, the two-time league MVP finally feeling it and making the tough shots on the challenging course at TPC Stonebrae while playing in his highly anticipated professional golf debut. He finished at 4-over 74 with a bogey on the last hole.

“It was an amazing experience, I’ve been looking forward to this since I found out and to finally hit my first shot in tournament play was a really, really nervous moment but it was everything I hoped for,” Curry said. “If you told me I was going to shoot 74 going into the first round I’d take that all day, every day. I’m pretty happy with it.”

Curry drew quite a crowd to the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic, where Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice has played a few times in the past.

The star point guard of the champion Warriors high-fived fans – some 300-plus at the picturesque course providing panoramic views overlooking San Francisco Bay – between some holes and chatted with the other two in his threesome, Sam Ryder and defending champion Stephan Jaeger.

Curry, who munched on a breakfast sandwich at the green of his first hole, missed badly on his initial ball of the day, landing his tee shot off a hill that kicked it perfectly into the cup holder of a golfcart. He then took a drop.

Not quite as spot-on as those signature pregame tunnel shots at Oracle Arena or the jaw-dropping, buzzer-beating 3-pointers from way, way back.

“That’s probably a first on the tour. There was a golf cart just left of my target on hole No. 1 and it went right in the cup holder,” Curry said. “Not an ideal way to start with calling a rules official over after your first tee shot. I kind of settled in after that.”

On the 15th fairway, Curry leaned on West, a member of Golden State’s front office and son of Hall of Famer Jerry West. Jonnie West also is a member at this course.

Then Curry finished the par-5 15th by sinking a 5-foot, downhill birdie putt. He made par on No. 16 then survived a tee shot to the bunker and a near stumble climbing out of the sand on the par-4 18th and made about an 8-footer to save par.

That prompted a triumphant club tap to his shoe and Curry then held up the ball sporting a big grin.

“It was awesome,” West said. “He handled the nerves of this being his first time in this type of atmosphere pretty well.”

Curry began his round on the back nine and was 2-over 37 at the turn, where he eagerly accepted a bag of fast food chicken for lunch.

He said that when his name was announced to begin his day “I could barely feel my hands, I had to try to take a deep breath.”

The top 65 and any ties from the 156-player field will make the cut to compete on the weekend. Curry is a sponsor exemption and one of three amateurs in the event.

“I want to play better tomorrow. Now that I kind of got the jitters out hopefully that will happen and hit a couple more good shots and make a couple more putts,” he said.

With so many cameras clicking, cheers and whistles moments after he struck the ball and hundreds of supporters in No. 30 shirts and Warriors gear, this was no doubt a “Strength In Numbers” kind of day.

There would be no balls lost, either. Wherever his shots landed, a big crowd quickly gathered to get an up-close glimpse of one of basketball’s best. One of the biggest bargains in the NBA before, Curry was rewarded last month with a $201 million, five-year contract.

Playing his other sporting passion, Curry got plenty of help along the 7,024-yard, par-70 course. Those with homes along the course gathered in groups on decks to catch a hole.

On this day, it was Jaeger making a key assist down the stretch. Waiting at the tee box on their final hole, he took a basketball belonging to 14-year-old Erik Oswald from Southern California for Curry to sign and delivered it back to the giddy teen dressed in a chef’s hat who had followed his hoops hero all day.

“Unbelievable gallery out here,” Curry said, “hopefully that continues through the week.”

Burlington, Ont., product Michael Gligic carded an opening round 64 to sit in a tie for second at 7 under par after 18 holes of the Digital Ally Open at Nicklaus Golf Course in Overland Park, Kan.

They Burlington, Ont., native teed off on the back nine and was even par through three holes before stringing together four straight birdies on holes No. 13 to 16 on route to going out in a 5-under-par 31.

Gligic added three more birdies on his second nine to finish at 7 under par, one shots back of leader Andrew Landry (Port Neches-Groves, Tex.) who fired an opening round 63 (-8).

O Canada. ??

Will Ontario native @MGligicGolf have a memorable @RBCCanadianOpen week here @DigitalAllyOpen?

He's in 2nd place after a 64. pic.twitter.com/vqsi6Yy0M1

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) July 28, 2017

He recorded his best career finish on the Web.com Tour earlier this year at the Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation finishing in a tie for eighth.

Adam Svensson, a graduate of the Team Canada Amateur Squad, posted a 6 under par 65 and is T6. Like Gligic, Svensson recorded four straight birdies on holes No. 13 to 16 after starting on the back nine.

He has two top-10s on the Web.com Tour this season, recording the best result of his career earlier this year at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship finishing T6.

Svensson is currently ranked 66th on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit.

While most eyes are on @RBCCanadianOpen – ?? @adamsvensson59 has a share of the lead (-7) @WebDotComTour Digital Ally Open

— Flagstick Golf (@Flagstick) July 28, 2017

Young Pro Squad’s Albin Choi, from Toronto, Ont., is at  under par. Choi had five birdies and an eagle in his round.

Choi’s Young Pro Squad teammate Corey Conners is XX after an opening round 69 (-2). The Listowel, Ont., native entered the week 45th on the Web.com Order of Merit.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Canada’s Ben Silverman carded a 4-under-par 67 to finish T5 at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah, on Saturday.

The 29-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., recorded six birdies and two bogeys to sit at 19-under par two shots back of winner Brice Garnett (Gallatin, Mo.).

Coming into this weeek Silverman’s top three finishes on the Web.com Tour this season are: T8 at the Rust-Oleum Championship, T17 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation and a T19 at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova.

He moved up from 73rd to 50th on the Web.com Tour Order of Merit with his best result of the season.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Canada’s Ben Silverman carded a 6-under-par 65 to move to T5 during the third round of the Utah Championship at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah, on Saturday.

The 29-year-old from Thronthill, Ont., recorded seven birdies and a bogey to bring him to 15-under par for the tournament, three shots back of leader Jacques Blaauw. Silverman was propelled by his strong finish when he registered three birdies in the final five holes.

His top three finishes on the Mackenzie Tour this season are: T8 at the Rust-Oleum Championship, T17 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation and a T19 at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova.

Canadian Ryan Yip carded a 6-under-par 66 in round two of at the Web.com Tour’s LECOM Health Challenge to sit T5 through 36 holes at the Peek N’ Peak Resort Upper Course in Findley Lake, NY.

The Calgary native was T29 at -3 after round one (69). Starting on hole No. 10 Yip was 5 under par through four holes with three birdies and an eagle.

He recorded two more birdies and one bogey to move to 9 under par two shots back of co-leaders China’s Xinjun Zhang and Adam Long (New Orleans, La.)

A member of the inaugural Team Canada National Team in 2005, Yip came to Findley Lake ranked 100th on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit.

.@RyanYipGolf's first four holes of Round 2 @LECOMHC:
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He's T4 heading into the weekend in New York. pic.twitter.com/TCwGciW5EI

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) July 7, 2017

The 32-year-old’s best result of the season was a T9 at Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER in March. He has two additional top-25 finishes this season.

Young Pro Squad’s Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) is T23 at 6-under-par after a second consecutive 69.

Conners’ Young Pro Squad teammate Albin Choi (Toronto, Ont.) started the day in a tie for fourth after an opening round 66 (-6), but a 1-over-par 73 in round two dropped him to T25.

Merrit, B.C., native Roger Sloan is T47 at 3 under par (70-71).

There are 11 Canadians in the field this week.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad golfer Albin Choi carded an opening round 6-under-par 66 at the Web.com Tour’s LECOM Health Challenge to sit T4 through 18 holes at the Peek N’ Peak Resort Upper Course in Findley Lake, N.Y.

The Toronto product started the day with five straight birdies and was bogey free for the rest of his round carding one more birdie to sit two shots back of the leader China’s Xinjun Zhang.

Choi came to Findley Lake ranked 89th on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit. His best result of the season was a T5 at the rain shortened BMW Charity Classic presented by Synnex Corporation.

The afternoon wave is making moves up the leaderboard, including @AlbinChoi at -5 #LECOMHC ⛳ pic.twitter.com/L0JpLj8ru0

— LECOMHealthChallenge (@LECOMHC) July 6, 2017

Choi’s Young Pro Squad teammate Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) is T25 at 3 under par after an opening-round 69 (-3), alongside Calgary’s Ryan Yip, and Ben Silverman (Thornhill, Ont.).

Merritt, B.C., native Roger Sloan is T47 (-2).

There are 11 Canadians in the field this week.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

Burlington, Ont., native Michael Gligic carded a 5-under-par 67 in round three of the Web.com Tour’s Nashville Golf Open benefiting the Snedeker Foundation to move to 11 under par and sit T4 after 54 holes at Nashville Golf and Athletic Club.

Playing on a sponsor exemption this week the Burlington, Ont., native had five birdies and no bogeys to sit two shots back of Conrad Shindler (Phoenix, Ariz.) who is 13 under par.

Gligic, 27, is playing on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada this season. His best result to date is a T14 at the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist.

He had three top-five finishes on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2016.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Burlington, Ont., native Michael Gligic carded a 4-under-par 68 in the lightning delayed opening round of the Web.com Tour’s Nashville Golf Open benefitting the Snedeker Foundation to sit T9 after 18 holes at Nashville Golf and Athletic Club.

Playing on a sponsor exemption this week the Burlington, Ont., native started on hole No. 10 Thursday pouring in three birdies on his first nine holes to make the turn at 3 under.

Four more birdies on the back nine, along with a bogey and double-bogey put him six strokes back of Conrad Shindler (Phoenix, Ariz.) who posted a 10-under-par 62 in Thursday’s opening round.

A strong start in Music City ?@MGligicGolf posted a career-low round @NashGolfOpen to climb to T7. pic.twitter.com/1vMhDXASjl

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) June 30, 2017

Gligic, 27, is playing on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada this season. His best result to date is a T14 at the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist.

He had three top-five finishes on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2016.

Team Canada graduate Justin Shin (Pitt Meadows B.C.) is T31 at 2 under par.

Ben Silverman (Thornhill, Ont.) is T43 at 1 under par alongside Team Canada Young Pro Squad’s Albin Choi (Toronto, Ont.).

For the full leaderboard click here.

For the second time in three weeks, the Web.com Tour announced a new tournament set to debut on the annual schedule in 2018. The North Mississippi Classic, which will be played at the Country Club of Oxford, will be held the week of April 16-22, 2018, with 156 players competing for a $550,000 purse. A three-year deal is in place through 2020.

The North Mississippi Classic joins the Savannah Golf Championship in Savannah, Ga., as the newest Web.com Tour events ready to host the next wave of PGA TOUR stars in 2018.

The announcement was made on Tuesday morning at a press conference at the Country Club of Oxford, with Web.com Tour President Dan Glod, Century Club Charities President Jeff Hubbard and Managing Owner of the Country Club of Oxford Larry Britt in attendance.

“We are excited to bring the North Mississippi Classic to Oxford as we continue to grow the Web.com Tour with new events in strong markets,” said Glod. “This community has demonstrated a passion for golf, and we are excited about the opportunity to partner with Country Club of Oxford and the Century Club, which has a proven tournament team that operates a very successful PGA TOUR event.”

“We are confident this partnership will allow us to engage fans, volunteers and local businesses as we look to cement our roots in North Mississippi and increase our charitable impact.”

The North Mississippi Classic will be the third PGA TOUR-sanctioned event to be held annually in Mississippi, joining the PGA TOUR’s Sanderson Farms Championship and the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on PGA TOUR Champions.

Mississippi is one of just five states to host an annual tournament on all three Tours, with California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

The event will be managed by Century Club Charities, the non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization which manages the Sanderson Farms Championship. Since 1994, the group has donated over $14 million to charity through the PGA TOUR stop. The event’s Executive Director, Steve Jent, will oversee the North Mississippi Classic, with proceeds benefitting charities throughout the region.

“Century Club Charities looks forward to hosting another great professional tournament, which will allow us to again showcase Mississippi hospitality to some of the best golfers in the world – all while raising much needed money for a variety of deserving charities,” said Hubbard.

The event will mark the Web.com Tour’s return to Mississippi after a successful 10-year run with the Gulf Coast Mississippi Classic from 1990 through 2000 (tournament was not played in 1998).

The event, which was contested in Gulfport, Miss., produced an impressive list of winners, including major champions Tom Lehman (1991) and Jim Furyk (1993).

The Country Club of Oxford is a 2006 Jim Fazio design that sits just minutes south of the city on some of the most undulating terrain in the region. The 7,000-yard course is one of the home courses of the University of Mississippi golf teams, which annually produce some of the top players in the SEC, including recent NCAA Individual Champion Braden Thornberry.

“The Country Club of Oxford, as well as the Lafayette County, Oxford and University of Mississippi communities are excited the PGA TOUR has chosen The Country Club of Oxford to host this new event,” said Britt. “I, along with my partners and our members, am looking forward to showcasing our club and community. Many have said The Country Club of Oxford is Oxford’s best kept secret. We look forward to sharing that secret with golf fans and to a long-lasting partnership with Century Club Charities and the Web.com Tour.”

With 50 available PGA TOUR cards for the following season (since 2013), the Web.com Tour is The Path to the PGA TOUR. Twenty-five TOUR cards are reserved for the leading money winners at the end of the 22-event Regular Season. Another 25 are up for grabs at the four-event Web.com Tour Finals that follow the Regular Season in September.

The Finals paved the path for immediate PGA TOUR success over the last two seasons for Web.com Tour graduates, with Emiliano Grillo (Frys.com Open), Smylie Kaufman (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Peter Malnati (Sanderson Farms Championship) winning three of the opening four events in the TOUR’s 2015-16 season.

Cody Gribble (Sanderson Farms Championship), Rod Pampling (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Mackenzie Hughes (The RSM Classic) won three of the opening seven events in the 2016-17 season.

For more information on the North Mississippi Classic or the Web.com Tour, please visit PGATOUR.com.