The call came in from PGA Tour official Shane Suber early lthis week, and the first thing Web.com Tour golf pro and Pensacola native Nick Rousey heard Suber say gave him pause.

"We need you to keep this to yourself," Suber told Rousey, an Escambia High product who went on to play for Central Alabama Community College and the University of Alabama.

"You think 'Uh-oh,' the first time you hear something like that," Rousey said.

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What came next would drastically alter Rousey's plans for the week.

Suber was relaying a request that had come in to find a practice partner for a player about to make his debut at the Web.com Tour's Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae that week in Hayward, California — where Rousey was also scheduled to play.

The player, it turned out, was two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and two-time NBA champion Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

Curry, it turned out, was the thing Rousey needed to keep to himself.

"I just said 'Sure, I can do that,'" Rousey said, laughing. "I mean, of course you want to go to do that."

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Rousey, who is also the Director of Instruction at Lost Key Golf Club, flew from Kansas City to California, and after fulfilling an obligation with some junior golfers, caught up with Curry on Tuesday about midway through the first hole, where he joined a group that included Curry, Ellie Mae president Jonathan Corr and Golden State Warriors Director of Player Programs Jonnie West, the son of legendary NBA player Jerry West.

"(Rousey) gave me a lot of information ... I need to write it all down, because my head was spinning a bit," Curry said. "Just to hear his expectations, what he thought about the swing throughs and write down little tidbits of info I wouldn't have known otherwise.

"Just figuring out how to execute what he was telling me. He's such a nice guy and he doesn't have to be worried about my game because he's playing this week, too." \

Ellie Mae Classic 2017: Steph Curry talks Nick Rousey

One of the tidbits Rousey, who shot a 73 both days at the Ellie Mae Classic, told Curry was about one piece of golf etiquette that only pros could probably pass on to other pros.

"Just little stuff, like there's a moving scorekeeper that follows the holes, and you usually sign a ball for them at the end of the hole," Rousey said. "They're volunteers, so you want to do something extra for them."

Rousey's round on Tuesday with Curry wasn't the only thing the NBA superstar — or the Warriors — would ask of him before the tournament started. Rousey ended up playing in a celebrity tournament with two other Golden State stars, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, on Tuesday and had a follow-up practice round with Curry on Wednesday.

"I guess you have this idea of what big-time stars or celebrities are like, as in they're mostly unapproachable," Rousey said. "What I saw was a group of guys who were kind, classy, approachable and incredibly down-to-earth. I mentioned something to (West) about it and he said that was who they wanted in their organization, guys like that.

"The only thing I can compare it to would be the Blue Angels, as far as how they act and how they carry themselves. Klay, Iguodala, Curry ... all just like that."

Curry ended up shooting back-to-back rounds of 74 at the Ellie Mae Classic. Rousey also received a tour of the Warriors' practice facility on Wednesday, along with some gear sent over by Curry.

And Rousey wasn't immune from a little good-natured ribbing from Curry, who has 17.2 million followers on his Instagram account.

"He was making fun of how few followers I had on my Instagram account," Rousey said. "I think I had like 45 followers, he tagged me in a picture and the next time I checked it had gone up to over 200 and he said something like 'Well at least now you're in triple digits.'"