Sir Andy Murray showcased his impressive golf skills at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over the weekend as the tennis legend battled it out on the course with a host of famous faces.
Having hung up his racket over a year ago, Murray has been dedicating much of his time to perfecting his golf game and has set his sights on one day participating in The Open. Despite only taking golf seriously a matter of months ago, he has already impressed some of the sport’s top talent and he left fans stunned again during the weekend’s pro-am competition.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was part of the Amateur Team Championship event, where 168 professional golfers are each paired with an amateur. Murray was partnered with English golfer Eddie Pepperell, but it was a moment of magic from the amateur that really got the crowd excited.
On Sunday, Murray found himself putting for birdie on the par-four 13th hole, some 80 feet away from the pin. Merely getting close would have earned the 38-year-old applause from the spectators, but he went one better, striking the ball with conviction and watching it roll all the way into the hole.
The spectacular moment was just one of many impressive putts from Murray over the weekend, and it helped him and Pepperell to finish on a total of -23 after three rounds of the course.
While he was a firm fan favourite, the former Wimbledon champion faced stiff competition on the leaderboard from a host of other celebrity amateurs. These included Hollywood A-listers Bill Murray, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, singers Ronan Keating and Huey Lewis, Dragons Den star Peter Jones and broadcaster Piers Morgan.
Joining them were sporting legends such as hockey great Wayne Gretzky, Olympic hero Steve Redgrave and cricketing stars Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan.
Out of 168 teams, Murray and Pepperell secured a very respectable joint-18th-place finish, which they shared with seven other teams including two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson and his wife Angie.
However, the Scotsman wasn’t the highest-placed celebrity, with Ghostbusters actor Bill Murray finishing in joint-15th alongside professional partner Jordan Smith.
Former South Africa rugby captain Morne Du Plessis achieved a joint-seventh place finish with partner Yurav Premlall, while Wall Street star Douglas finished joint-fifth with John Parry. Sharing fifth spot with Douglas was Morgan, who despite having a handicap of 16, also finished on -27 alongside professional partner Matthew Jordan.
But it was English actor Michael Goode who claimed the celebrity crown, securing third position with a remarkable final tally of -31 alongside Alejandro Del Rey, whose stunning eagle three on the closing hole propelled them up the rankings.
The team prize was claimed by Ireland’s Cian Foley – son-in-law of Irish racehorse owner and businessman JP McManus – who carded -33 with Australian professional Harrison Crowe.
Despite falling short against the likes of Morgan and Goode over the weekend, Murray remains determined to qualify for The Open someday, admitting it would be a “fun thing to do”.
“A couple of my friends who are very good golfers have done it,” he said. “If I can improve enough, I think it would be a fun thing to do. I played in the club championships at Beaverbrook a few months ago and I loved it.
“It was the most fun I’d had playing golf and the more I play, the less I enjoy just playing socially. I don’t know if I’ll be capable of entering, but I want to try and play in a few more events.
“I’ve been pretty amazed at how willing the pros are to help,” he added. “Because spending five hours with people who are hacking it around probably isn’t that enjoyable.”