The celebrity-pro-am portion of the 13th annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational (MJCI) hosted by ARIA Resort & Casino at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas ended its first day earlier this evening with a spectacular 25-foot eagle putt on No. 18 by NFL All-Pro Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The Arizona Cardinals’ fan favorite led his team to a Day One win with a score of -17 under par, 55, one stroke better than two other teams who were tied for second with a -16 under par, 56.
Today’s morning kicks off at 7:30 a.m. with the second day of the celeb-amateur tournament. Today’s pairings and yesterdays’s scores are below.
Notable Moments from the Course:
- To start his day, Michael Jordan rolled up in his North Carolina blue signature golf cart. He had fun with his group during the first day of the tournament, including daring one of his teammates to jump into the water at the 18th hole. His teammate willingly dove in which left the legend, along with the crowd, laughing hysterically. Throughout the day, Jordan bantered with fans on the course. One fan asked who he was taking in the Final Four to which he replied, “Wisconsin!”
- Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald chest-bumped his teammates after making a 35-foot putt midway through his Thursday round and finished the day with an eagle on 18 to win Day One.
- As Stuart Scott teed off on the first hole, a fan yelled from the crowd, “Cool as the other side of the pillow!,” referencing one of Scott’s famous SportsCenter catchphrases.
- On Brandi Chastain’s 9th hole of the day, her second shot on the par 5 flew the green and hit a rake on the side of a sand trap. The ball bounced backwards onto the green and rolled into the hole for an amazing two. The crowd went nuts and Brandi pretended to take her shirt off, reminding fans of her infamous celebration after her game-winning penalty shootout kick against China in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
- Real Housewives of Orange County Star Gretchen Rossi took pointers from fiancé Slade Smiley before teeing off at the first hole. As Smiley approached the tee box, he was introduced as the “sixth housewife,” to which he replied, “It’s okay, I’m proud of it!” His first shot only went a few feet so he took a mulligan and made the crowd laugh by saying, “Now that’s how you start off the day!” Rossi later posed beside her results on the scoreboard, proud of her performance for the day.
- After finishing his 18 holes of golf, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw his golf ball into the MJCI bleachers at Shadow Creek’s 18th hole. Earlier in the day, he was spotted throwing a football around with his teammates on the 15th hole.
- In true rock star fashion, Adrian Young’s group rolled up to each hole blasting music from their golf carts, playing everything from LMFAO’s “Party Rock” to “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. But as he entered his backswing during his second shot, two large geese flew right over him, squawking and altering the shot. “I felt you!” he yelled jokingly at the birds
Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational
Celebrity-Amateur
Friday, April 4, 2014 Shadow Creek
FRIDAY PAIRINGS
TIME CELEBRITY TEAM 1st Tee – Morning
7:30 Jake Owen 1
Bill Jarvis, Nicholas Granruth, Bobby Shah, Bob Johnson 7:40 Julius Erving 2
Fletch Brunelle, Greg Herning, Al Geismar, David Hansen 7:50 Alan Thicke 3
Bill Rodrigues, Robbie Bennetts, John Bardis, Bryan Gay 8:00 Stuart Scott 4
Gary Sims, Bil Baumner, Tim Smith, Greg Schwaderer 8:10 Mike Piazza 5
Tony Yousfi, Bryan Faliero, Scott Durkin, Mark Janian 8:20 Christina Milian 6
Eric Tom, Justin Beltran, Daniel Jiang, Gerald Thibeau 8:30 Ken Griffey, Jr 7
Victor Szucs, Todd Roberts, George Glover, Ryker Young 8:40 Marcus Allen 8
Brian Booth, Scott Booth, Scott Kostylo, Tom Evans 8:50 John Smoltz 9
Trea Reedy, Mark Uhlrich, Anthony Basile, Sil Basile 9:00 Brandi Chastain 10 Gil Flores, Max Heineman, David Borelli, Wendy Montanaro 9:10 Brian Baumgartner 11 Curtis Polk, Bob Parr, Chris Nasrallah, Jae Schmutz 9:20 Aaron Rodgers 12 Joe Kaplan, Scott Runyan, Bobby Waid, Robert Hobart 9:30 Michael Jordan 13 Mark Wilson, Charlie Lee, Nathan Bays, Cindy Davis TIME CELEBRITY TEAM 10th Tee – Morning
7:30 Kenny Lofton 14 Ryan Boyce, Paul Peterson, Terry Terhark, James Logeman 7:40 Ron Harper 15 Fred Kearns, Tisher Lett, George Koehler, Jerry Smith 7:50 Mauricio Umansky 16 Fred Whitfield, Paul Campion, Pete Guelli, Robert Stevanovski 8:00 Paul O’Neill 17 Takao Saiki, Yoshio Imura, Maika Osawa, Tomohito Kurita 8:10 Vince Coleman 18 Dennis Hansen, Larry Fitzgerald, Leslie Hansen, Anthony Fortunato 8:20 Richard Dent 19 Erich Ekstedt, Dan Chueh, Joe Kaplan, John White 8:30 Patrick Peterson 20 Jon Halvorsen, Andy Bush, Randy Hedland, Rand Arbuckle 8:40 Eric Dickerson 21 Ric Wilson, CJ Paul, Charles Paul, Shakim Compere 8:50 Andre Johnson 22 Scott Howard, Mike Dyer, Orin Mayers, Andre Melton 9:00 Roger Clemens 23 Chick Lee, Jim West, Steve Green, Curt Allen 9:10 Ozzie Smith 24 Jay Valerio, Adam Frischer, Carl Bishop, Todd Braverman 9:20 Ahmad Rashad 25 Jahid Mirza, Luke Tarby, Dan Lanzano, Reid Steinberg 9:30 Dan Jansen 26 Ken Itani, Ryosuke Itani, Tara Shirai, Taiga Tabuchi TIME CELEBRITY TEAM 1st Tee – Afternoon
12:00 Dwight Freeney 27 Bill Boasberg, Scott Sibella, Chris Nordling, George Chiu 12:10 Adrian Young 28 Dave Nichols, Eric McHone, Mike Smith, Bryan Brown 12:20 Winky Wright 29 Eli Pachino, Robert Gamch, Joe Orr, Josh Lang 12:30 Jerome Bettis 30 Bill McClain, Bobby Franz, Geno Baratta, Jay Wadkins 12:40 Toni Kukoc 31 David Belfiore, Victor Califa, Steven Wang, Robert Courson 12:50 Chris Chelios 32 Michael Hirtenstein, Mike Murphy, Kenny Dichter, Owen Mitchell 1:00 Wanya Morris 33 Harry Goff, Rich Brothers, Michael Muldoon, Asim Zamir 1:10 Gretchen Rossi 34 Scott Fairchild, Tony Amoroso, Slade Smiley, Chris Higgs TIME CELEBRITY TEAM 10th Tee Afternoon
12:00 Brian Urlacher 35
Richard Bukovinsky, David Bender, David Greenwald, Edward Sorkin 12:10 Penny Hardaway 36
Terry Ferrero, Jay Johnson, Asher Raphael, Corey Schiller 12:20 Jonathan Ogden 37
Mike Sibulkin, Forrest Baker, Johnny Florentino, Tony Krum 12:30 Josh Freeman 38
Glenn Lyon, Mike McCausland, Keith Petty, Dale Allen 12:40 Flex Alexander 39
Daric Ashford, Keith Houlemard, Mark Raveling, Gavin Lindberg 12:50 Nathan Morris 40
Michael Flaherty, Stanley Roy, John Salerno, Robert Sanchez 1:00 Shawn Stockman 41
Kent Jiminez, James Arriola, Jacob Pak, William Nash 1:10 Phil Hellmuth 42
Kenny Lee, Paul Scaringe, Bill Mendoza, Jeff Blake -
2014 Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational
Thursday Celebrity/Amateur Results
Thursday Top 3 Finishers
3rd Place:
Celebrity: Ken Griffey, Jr.
Amateurs: Bill Boasberg, Scott Sibella, Scott Runyan, Jay Johnson
Score: 56
2nd Place:
Celebrity: Jerome Bettis
Amateurs: Stanley Roy, David Reiter, John Ingolilia, Randy Hedland
Score: 56 (won with a 4 on 18)
1st Place:
Celebrity: Larry Fitzgerald
Amateurs: Dennis Hansen, Jim West, Tom Cyr, Michael Sylvester
Score: 55
CLOSETS TO THE HOLE CONTESTS:
Thursday Closet To The Pin on Hole 8 Winner: Ryker Young – 2ft.
Thursday Hole in One on Hole 17 Winner: Robert Sanchez – 6’-4”
HOLE IN ONE CONTESTS:
Thursday hole in one on hole 5 winner: None
Thursday hole in one on hole 8 winner: None
Thursday hole in one on hole 13 winner: None
Thursday hole in one on hole 17 winner: None
