During an interview on Peacock’s coverage of the American Century Championship on Friday, Charles Barkley said about the annual celebrity golf event: “This is my 30th year. I look forward to coming here every year.”

And is he ever looking forward to Round 2 on Saturday.

From 2014 through 2018, Barkley had the worst score among the golfers who complete all three rounds annually except in 2015, when he finished next-to-last.

But the perennial also-ran with a swing that spawned jokes completed the first round of the 2025 tournament on Friday tied for 24th among the 90 competitors.

“I had a great day today,” Barkley said. “I had a lot of fun. I played with Nate Bargatze and Larry the Cable Guy, two of the best dudes. But I’ve put a lot of time and effort in, and I was very happy with the way I played today.”

Barkley shot a 9-over-par 81 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada. But that wasn’t his score. The American Century Championship uses the Modified Stableford scoring system. A double eagle is worth 10 points, a hole-in-one eight, an eagle six, a birdie three and a par one. A double-bogey or worse is minus-2 points.

Barkley finished with nine points on Friday.

Barkley holed out from 88 yards on the par-4 second hole for a six-point eagle. He birdied the par-3 seventh and parred eight holes. Four double-bogeys took eight points off his score.

“I thought I would play well,” Barkley told former Vestavia Hills High School star Smylie Kaufman in an interview during Peacock’s coverage. “I didn’t think I would play this well. What I’m really trying to work on is tempo. Every time I try to hit the ball hard, bad stuff happens, so I told myself the last couple of weeks, ‘Man, you’re a big, old, fat dude. Just make a pass at it. It’s going to go.’ That’s what I tell myself, Smylie: ‘You’re a big, old, fat dude. If you just make a nice pass at it, with that big ass you got, the ball’s going to go off the club.’ So I’m really just concentrating, honestly, on tempo.”

Barkley had his best showing at the tournament last year, when he came in 58th at minus-4. He had never had a score better than minus-26 previously.

Former NHL player Joe Pavelski holds the lead after the first round with 23 points, one point ahead of 2022 winner Vinny Del Negro, a former NBA player and coach. Golden State Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry, the 2023 winner, is tied for third with 21 points.

A former Leeds High School and Auburn basketball standout, Barkley is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after a 16-year NBA career that included 11 All-Star selections.

An Auburn alumnus has won the American Century Championship. Football kicker Al Del Greco took the title in 2000.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.