Superstar ex-footballer 'hooked on golf' - but explains why he won't turn pro

Traditionalists may scoff, but there can surely be no denying that seeing the likes of Andy Murray, Gareth Bale, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and even Lewis Capaldi playing golf can only be good for the game.

They attract eyeballs from a non-golfing audience and, if it’s cool for retired sports stars and global celebrities to be out on the fairways, then there’s a good chance they can help grow the game.

“You hear lots of people saying that they wished they’d picked up golf earlier in life, no matter when they started,” former Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid player Bale, who played in last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth with Rory McIlroy, told The Scotsman. “So, if we can try and attract more people into golf and get them playing younger, it’s only going to help grow the game. If I can help in any way, shape or form, I am delighted to do so.”

Rory McIlroy shares a laugh with Gareth Bale during the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth Club last week. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

On social media platform X alone, the Welshman has close to 19 million followers while singing star Styles, who had a huge gallery following him when he teed up on the Old Course at St Andrews last year, has 37 million.

“I love the game of golf and I have a reach that not many people have,” added Bale, who is among the sports stars and celebrities playing in next week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews. “So hopefully I can use that in good ways for a lot of things and also to try and grow golf by making it more accessible and I guess more appealing to some people because I think people have a perception of golf that it’s not fun but as soon as they try it, they get hooked and love it.

“All of us want to help golf and make it more accessible. We want to make everyone realise how much fun it is. I think golf is becoming more modern than it has in the past and I think that is important. It’s changing with the times with the implementation of new technology like Trackman. Yes, golf is in a great place at the moment and whoever can help push it and make it bigger, then it is beneficial for everybody.”

Bale, who was out on the West Course watching last week’s Rolex Series event at the Surrey venue, was playing off 2.5 when he teed up in the BMW International Pro-Am in Munich last year and is now down to scratch. “There was probably a group of five or six of us who decided to start playing golf,” he said. “I obviously didn’t play too much during the football season but, like everybody I suppose, you just get addicted to the game. You always want to keep improving and there is nothing like that feeling when you hit a good shot or sink a long putt. It’s great having a good laugh with your friends and it’s also a great place to be away from things for a few hours and getting away from the stresses of life and just enjoying yourself.”

Three-time tennis Grand Slam winner Murray admitted he couldn’t “really feel my arms or legs” due to feeling nervous about his first pro-am appearance since retiring following a farewell appearance in the Olympics in Paris. “You feel a little bit of nerves because you are not used to hitting a golf ball all the time,” said Bale, who is also a global ambassador for The R&A, with a smile. “In football, I was used to doing it in front of millions of people. It’s different in golf when you don’t practice it a lot and hitting shots in front of people and cameras is a little bit more daunting. But the more you practice the better you get and hopefully that kind of fear goes away.”

It had been rumoured that Bale, who is a member of Wentworth Club and also Whitchurch in South Wales, might be tempted to turn professional at some point but no so, according to the 35-year-old. “I don’t have a career in golf,” he insisted. “I’m an avid golfer who, like everyone else, be as good as they can be. Play some club events with friends and have some fun with your friends on golf trips. I’m not looking to turn pro or do anything like that.

“I get that it’s fun to try and qualify for The Open or something like that because it’s open to amateurs and that might be fun one day. At the moment, though, I’m just having fun playing golf as a hobby and trying to win a couple of club tournaments.”