Mercury News Charles Barkley has straightened out his swing, and the Tahoe oddsmakers have noticed.
In previous years, he has been a 500-1 shot to win the American Century Championship. He is invariably the most popular and worst golfer in the field. But now he has all those lessons from Hank Haney, Tiger Woods’ swing coach, on the Golf Channel series “The Haney Project.” All those days of hitting more than 1,000 balls. As a result, Harrah’s has improved its outlook on Barkley. He’s listed at 499-1. “I honestly have an idea of what I’m trying to do,” Barkley said Thursday on a conference call. “Can I do it No. But at least I have an idea of what I’m trying to do.” The three-round event runs July 17-19 at Edgewood Tahoe, with July 14-16 reserved for practice rounds and even more relaxed events. (Not that they’re exactly putting on their Tiger faces for the tournament, but once the real competition starts, the celebs compete for $600,000, including a $125,000 top prize.) Barkley knows he can’t win &mdash it’s always a quarterback or a hockey player, he notes &mdash but he has a goal in mind.
“The black guys, we joke around, we call it the Black Masters,” he said. “One of these days I’d like to win the Black Masters. That’s my lifetime goal as far as golf goes.”