Austin Reaves falls short in attempt to make Korn Ferry Tour event — 11 strokes short - NBC Sports

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 27: Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to the media after the game against the Denver Nuggets during Round 1 Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs on April 27, 2024 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

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NBA players love golf. A few, like Stephen Curry — who won the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe last summer with an eagle putt on the final hole — like to play competitively.

Lakers’ guard Austin Reaves tried to take that to another level and qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Visit Knoxville Open. He played in a qualifying event on Monday but didn’t make the event — by 11 strokes. Reaves shot a respectable 76 (+6), but much like in basketball, the jump from “he’s good at this” to professional is massive.

Reaves spoke about the experience with PGATour.com.

Austin Reaves gives himself a B- for his debut round of 76 in the @visitknoxopen qualifier. ⬇️@Lakers pic.twitter.com/3olHd3oWzI

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 21, 2024

“You can’t really compare anything to it. I was nervous, I will say that, but it was a lot of fun. I was on the first tee shaking a little bit, didn’t hit a good ball, but other than that, it was a lot of fun to play some competitive golf.”

Reaves — who hasn’t played competitive golf since high school — didn’t exactly plan this out, telling Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times he was bored, sitting on his couch and decided to find a qualifying event, then found one. Reaves said that his putting and short game did him in.

Fortunately, Reaves is very good at his day job. Whatever the Lakers roster and coaching staff look like next season, Reaves will have a big role. He averaged 15.9 points and 5.5 assists a game last season as a secondary shot-creator next to LeBron James.