Mardy Fish wins American Century Championship for 3rd time

by | Jul 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

STATELINE, Nev. – For the third time in his golf history, tennis champion Mardy Fish has been crowned the American Century Champion. 

Fish scored 72 points overall, 20 of which he scored on Sunday. 

Despite starting the day in the lead, it wasn’t clear that Fish would be the winner. He shot three bogeys in a row on holes 3-5, including a four-putt on hole 5, which he said he’d never done before. 

“That was a little jarring,” said Fish. “It took me a couple holes to kind of get it back. I drew a line on the scorecard after number 5 just to reset.”

He recovered well, shooting a birdie on hole 7. 

Last year’s winner, Joe Pavelski, was on Fish’s heels for most of the day. Pavelski ended the day with 66 points. 

When asked, when he knew he was going to beat Pavelski he said it wasn’t until, “Joe hit it in the water on his second shot was kind of when I thought, okay, he can’t make six, and I started doing the math.”

In addition to Pavelski, Fish was being chased by Stephen Curry, who ended the day in third with 59 points and Annika Sorenstam, who ended the day in fourth with 58 points. 

Fish first won in 2020, when there were no crowds allowed at the tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He won again in 2024. 

This years’ win came with big prizes, including the crystal trophy, a $120,000 check and for the first time, a winners lab coat, modeled after the PGA Masters jacket. 

The lab coat is in recognition of American Century’s philanthropic corporate structure that allows the company to direct 40 percent of dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.

“Contextually, for everyone, it’s a million-square-foot facility based in Kansas City, Missouri,” said Michael Turner, head of Avantis Distribution for American Century Investments. “We have over 500 scientists who have come over the globe to KC. There’s 20 individual labs that have distinct initiatives. And all of these folks, day in and day out, they come to the institute and they research cures for all types of gene-based diseases. To name a couple: Cancer, dementia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and the like.”

As per tradition, Fish took a celebratory jump in Lake Tahoe, with his father, son and caddy.

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