Mardy Fish affirms ACC heckler bet on Steph to win title
Former professional tennis player Mardy Fish revealed the fan who shouted and interrupted his swing during the 18th hole of the American Century Championship on Sunday had an ulterior motive.
"He said he bet on Steph [Curry] to win, so he wanted him to win," Fish said on a recent episode of "The Ryen Russillo Podcast."
Fish was leading by three points before the 18th hole and could almost smell his second ACC title win in three years. But the fan's loud screech distracted him during his tee shot, which he sent into trouble in the rough. Curry went on to make eagle on the hole to win the tournament for the first time.
Fish gave Russillo the full scoop of what transpired on the 18th tee box, which started with some NSFW comments made by the same fan.
"So we get to 18 and there's a guy, I'm just about to pull the club back, and this is before somebody yelled in my backswing, and he yells out, 'Hey Fish, eff you, you suck,' when no one is talking," Fish recalled. "And there's thousands of people there, and I'm just about to tee off and he says, 'Hey Fish, eff you, you suck,' right next to my wife and kids, and just out of nowhere. It's just weird, right? I've had people say stuff like that when I'm playing tennis and I'm like whatever I'll deal with that another time or just let it go. That stuff doesn't really bother me that much.
"But I'm just about to take the club back and this guy says it and Steph's like, 'Whoa dude. What are you doing?' And my buddy who's caddying for me was pretty pissed. So he's got his eyeballs on this guy and probably going to say something after I hit. So I reset. ... I take the club back and right at the top of my backswing, it wasn't at my downswing, it was right at the top, and he yells, I don't know what he yelled, some sort of bird sound or something. He got me good. He really did. He got me to where it was like that perfect time, and golf is so technical. Everything has to be on point if you're swinging. So if you're off by a little bit, things could go bad.
"So he did that, my buddy goes after him, Steph's guy goes after him, it was kind of cool to see the camaraderie of everyone being like, 'That's not cool man.' And you could tell that with Steph, it actually bothered him to where when we got down to the green and I walked up to him and I said, 'Just make the putt. I hope you make the putt.' I felt like maybe, because he's such a good dude that maybe he felt really bad that that happened, and I know he did."
Despite Fish having himself a day on Sunday, the heckling spectator clearly threw off his rhythm when it mattered most. Curry wound up sinking a walk-off put to win it all and secure his first ACC title.
After the emotional win, Curry celebrated like a kid on Christmas Day but acknowledged and applauded Fish for keeping the competition classy.
"I do want to shout out Mardy Fish because he played unbelievable today. It was amazing to watch. I didn't see him the first two rounds, but he played unbelievable. It was just fun to see that type of ball striking and scoring out there," Curry told reporters. " ... That comment was real. Like he knew what the stakes were as soon as he missed that birdie chance to win it, he said that to me.
"And it was cool just to accept it, fall into my routine. I still can't believe I made it. It was crazy."
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Source: NBC Sports Bay Area
