Mardy Fish Talks American Century Celebrity Golf Win & More with Rich

Mardy Fish walked into the studio still wearing the lab coat, and he has no intention of taking it off.

Fresh off winning the American Century Championship for a third time, and fresh off jumping into Lake Tahoe to celebrate, Fish showed up in the champion's coat that American Century hands out instead of a green jacket. The reason behind it is better than the gag. American Century gives away 40% of its dividends every year to cancer research, specifically the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.

Steph Curry has already adjusted accordingly. "Steph calls me Dr. Fish now."

Rich, being Rich, immediately tried to punch it up. Hall of Fame jackets are numbered, so this should be lab coat one, with the year stitched in. What he could not do was borrow it. Fish had already been out on the practice greens in 85 degree heat wearing the thing, drawing looks. "Try and take this from me. I dare you."

The shot that won it came at the end of round two. Fish started the hole one point down under the Stableford scoring, hit an eight-iron out of a bunker from roughly 160 yards, and made eagle to begin the third round up four.

"That was the best shot I hit all week," he said.

Rich watched it from a bar that had shut off the World Cup for dinner service and put the American Century on the screens instead. His verdict was not modest. Take out the chyron and the Lake Tahoe backdrop and you would think you were watching somebody win a major.

Fish's explanation for why it worked is the part worth keeping. He is used to people watching him play tennis, not golf. Nerves are real out there. "Sometimes you just need a really tough shot to just sort of go for something and just hit something," he said. "I couldn't not commit to that shot."

He also made the case that the event is genuinely hard, and not for the reasons people assume. Tahoe sits at 6,500 feet, so you are playing 10% to 12% adjustments on every club, and dialing in wedges and irons is brutal. Fish pointed to Austin Reaves, who has shot 67 and 68 at Hillcrest Country Club with him and finished 15th at Tahoe.

The best story of the interview was about gambling. Asked for a dream foursome, Fish went Jack Nicklaus, Michael Jordan and Steph Curry, which prompted the Jordan round he actually played. Not knowing the stakes, Fish went to the bank beforehand and withdrew $15,000 just in case, an amount he did not want to lose but that would not have changed his life. Jordan asked what he wanted to play for. They played $200, $200, $400.

"And I went, oh thank god."

Fish won, and on the 16th tee Jordan laid down 400 bucks and announced he did not owe anybody anything.

On his actual sport, Fish was blunt. Golf is far more top heavy than tennis right now, and the men's tennis top 10 is fairly weak even with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the summit. America has not had a men's major winner since the 2003 US Open, and Fish maintains that if either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal had not existed, Andy Roddick wins eight majors. He cited the 2009 epic against Federer, 16-14 in the fifth, where Roddick did not lose serve until 15-14.

Rich sent him off with a Rich Eisen Show Jumpman hat and a deal. Fish gets him on a golf course, Rich gets a point off Alcaraz. Asked which was more likely, the room was unanimous, and it was not the golf.