When Jack Sock made his maiden voyage into the world of celebrity golf, he knew that a familiar face would be waiting for him. Seven weeks after the United States Davis Cup Team swept Columbia in early March in Reno, Nevada, Sock reunited with Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish at the inaugural ClubCorp Classic in Irving, Texas.
Who better to show Sock the ropes than Fish, one of America’s premier celebrity golfers, who wins regularly and plays in as many as he can against the likes of Tony Romo, John Smoltz, Mark Rypien and a host of Hall of Famers from sports and entertainment.
“Oh, Yeah, Reno was great. Winning and me, as one of the veteran guys, getting to hold the American Flag and run around the arena, uphold that tradition. That was a blast,” said Sock after wrapping up the first round of the ClubCorp Classic on Friday with playing partners Rod Pampling and Tom Lehman, familiar pro golfers now competing on the PGA TOUR Champions in the ClubCorp Classic.
“This is my first event in celebrity golf, so Marty and I played a practice round earlier in the week,” continued Sock, who contributed to the rout of Columbia by teaming with Rajeev Ram to defeat Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Nicolas Barrientos in the match that clinched the win for the U.S. Asked if he had heard the stores about Fish taking money from that earlier generation of tennis pros when they would venture out to the golf course on days off, Sock offered. “Oh, I’m sure that happened. I would never play Mardy for money,” he concluded with a shake of the head.
Fish has won the American Century Championship, the premier event in celebrity golf, and has two victories in the Orlando tournament, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, which is a prominent LPGA event in January each year.
“Great to be with Jack this week after the role he played in Reno,” stated Fish, who trailed Tony Romo by three Stableford (golf scoring mechanism) point after Friday’s round. “He is the pillar of our team and the guy I like to bounce ideas off. I look to him as a playing Assistant Captain. And he is perhaps the best individual doubles player I have ever seen.”
As for the golf tournament, Sock stands in a tied for 25th place with the likes of Ray Allen, Joe Carter and Kyle Fuller, ahead of Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Brian Urlacher and Emmitt Smith plus Larry The Cable Guy and Anthony Anderson.
Fish is also bullish on Sock’s golf potential: “He’s already a strong player. Jack is a unique athlete. Great power and raw ability. I know golf coaches who love his foundation.”
Pasted the reno gazette journal story for your reference. Use this copy as you see fit. Only attribution needed is photo credit: ClubCorp Classic.
Considering how things played out this weekend in downtown Reno, the United States Tennis Association might want to consider bringing the Davis Cup to the Biggest Little City more often.
Jack Sock and Rajeev Ram of the U.S. defeated the Colombian duo of Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Nicolas Barrientos in straight sets Saturday afternoon, 6-3, 6-4, to win the countries’ Davis Cup qualifying match in front of an enthusiastic and at-times raucous crowed at the Reno Events Center.
Saturday’s doubles victory followed singles wins Friday night from Sebastian Korda over Nicolas Mejia and Taylor Fritz over Alejandro Gonzalez, giving the U.S. a 3-0 lead and clinching victory in the best-of-five series.
