Former Tottenham and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale has announced he will be competing in a PGA golf tournament next month where the prize fund stands at $9m.
Bale’s love of golf was known throughout his football career and gained particular exposure during his time at Real Madrid. It was a running joke that he preferred playing golf to playing for Los Blancos. But fans in the Spanish capital didn’t see the funny side.
The five-time Champions League winner infamously once posed with a flag that read, ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’, which may have been the point of no return with his relationship with the supporters and local media.
There has been plenty of speculation about what the 33-year-old could do next after hanging up his boots following a short stint with LAFC and playing at the World Cup with Wales.
Having pursued golf as a hobby for years, Bale will now go one further. He has confirmed he will play in the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California – it is a tournament with 156 professional players and 156 amateurs, including other celebrities like Billy Murray and Jason Bateman.
Transitioning into professional golf isn’t unheard of for retired footballers. Ex-West Ham and Liverpool defender Julian Dicks went pro and only had to give it up because of the longstanding knee problems that ended his football career. Former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe also became a professional golfer as recently as 2020.