Former tennis icon Andy Murray has set his sights on qualifying for The Open Championship in 2026, following a growing obsession with golf since retiring from the courts. The two-time Wimbledon winner has been working tirelessly to reduce his handicap from seven to two in recent months, as he aims to become a scratch golfer.
Murray has even updated his X profile bio to read: “I played tennis. I now play golf”, and is set to compete in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship next month, going against top competition. Speaking on The Chipping Forecast podcast recently, Murray revealed his ambition to compete in The Open, which boasts a whopping £12.5million prize fund. He said: “I have been playing a lot, practicing a lot, but I want to start playing more competitions and handing in more cards. I have played quite a lot of social golf recently and I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to get better.
“I love the competitive side of playing in competitions and that’s why I want to try and do that more.When asked if he would like to take on the challenge of The Open, he responded: “Yeah, I mean, I would like to do that.
“A couple of my friends have done it, they’re into golf. I have played quite a lot of social golf recently and I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way to get better. I love the competitive side of playing in competitions and that’s why I want to try and do that more.”
When asked if he would like to take on the challenge of The Open, he said: “I think it’s quite interesting when other athletes do that, because I’m aware, because I was an athlete myself, that I’m a terrible golfer relative to a professional golfer.
“You know, lots of amateur sports fans often feel like, ‘Oh, well, you know, if you played more golf, or if I played more golf, I could be a professional golfer’ or whatever. And I just feel like I understand that a scratch golfer is a good golfer, but the difference between a scratch golfer and a professional is huge.
“You know, it’s huge. And I don’t think loads of amateurs necessarily understand that, but I’m not expecting that I would qualify for the open, but I think going through that process and trying to do it would be fun.”
Murray, who reportedly has a golf simulator installed at his residence, is targeting a scratch handicap, with those holding such a status able to pay £200 to enter regional qualifying for the Open. Qualifying for The Open, which takes place at Royal Birkdale on Merseyside next year, occurs at 15 venues across the UK and Ireland.
The tennis icon is currently vying to secure £3.6m at Wednesday’s star-studded BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth. Billy Horschel is the defending champion in the tournament, running from Thursday through Sunday, and will team up with the Brit alongside former footballers Gareth Bale and Teddy Sheringham.
However, Murray expressed his excitement about playing at St Andrews in October, stating: “I’m really looking forward to this. It’s very special to be able to play in a full-blown professional event.
“And for a Scot like me to be able to do it in Scotland at such a unique location makes it even more exceptional. In many ways the Old Course at St Andrews is very like Centre Court at Wimbledon.”
The three-time Grand Slam champion retired from the tennis court in 2024 after representing Team GB at the Paris Olympics the previous year. His illustrious career saw him clinch two Wimbledon titles and The US Open, fighting against some of the biggest stars in the sport including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.