Retired Welsh soccer star Gareth Bale (34, photo) showed off his golf skills that he had been hiding until now, such as performing a ‘trick shot’ at the PGA Tour Pro-Am tournament.
Bale hit 7 under par with Joseph Bramlett (34, USA) in the first round of the PGA Tour AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am held at the Pebble Beach Spyglass Course (par 72) in California, USA on the 3rd (Korean time). He is tied for 18th in the team standings, 5 strokes behind the leader. The tournament is played in a four-ball format (a good score is calculated as a team score) by forming a pair of professional players and amateurs. After three days of competition on three courses (Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula CC), the top 25 groups advance to the final round. Apart from this, professional players calculate the score separately by stroke method and determine the winner.
Bale’s partner, Bramlett, tied 6 birdies and 2 bogeys that day to record a 4-under-par 68. The content of the game was also good. The highlight is the 2nd hole (par 4). He blundered on his second shot and sent the ball into the cart road beside the green. However, Bale, who maintained a calm expression, looked at the green for a long time, took out a wedge, and sent the ball 1.2m to the side with a soft approach shot, successfully making a ‘par save’. “I was nervous on the first hole,” Bale said. “I played soccer in front of 80,000 spectators, but this is a completely different sport. It was a very good experience,” he said.
The reaction of golf fans to Bale’s ‘professional’ golf skills is also hot. This scene, posted on the official social media of the PGA Tour, has already surpassed 1 million views. The British BBC evaluated, “The former captain of the Wales national football team had a very intense PGA Tour debut.”
Bale’s love of golf is well known. He has a three-hole golf course at home, and was so serious about golf that he sneaked around the course during his playing days. The official handicap is ‘2’, which is the highest among amateurs participating in this tournament. 바카라
On this day, the Korean players were sluggish. Ahn Byeong-hun (32), who played at Monterey Peninsula CC, managed to score a 2 under par 69 and tied for 47th place. It is 6 strokes behind Hank Rubioda (29, USA), who recorded 8 under par 63 strokes on the same course and took the lead alone.
Kang Seong-hoon (36), who played at Pebble Beach Golf Links, also tied for 47th with a 2 under par 70. Noh Seung-yeol (32), who played on the same course, tied for 79th with an even par 72.