"I watch golf nonstop"- Michael Phelps confesses his love for the sport while eagerly following play at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Michael Phelps has frequently expressed his passion for golf. The former swimmer and four-time Olympian is very dedicated to the game and also reportedly considered a professional career as a golfer after retiring from swimming.
Nicknamed "Baltimore Bullet", Michael Phelps recently remarked that he not only plays golf but also ardently follows the sport throughout the year. Claiming that he watches every tournament on the PGA Tour, he said (via PGA Tour Live):
"I watch golf nonstop. Every Thursday until Sunday. I'm listening to the coverage on my phone from the very first tee time to the last tee time."
So it is no coincidence that Michael Phelps was on hand for the first tee time of the opening round of golf at Le Golf National and expressed his admiration for the atmosphere at the Games.
"When Matthieu Pavon came up, the whole entire audience just started belting out! It was absolutely incredible! I mean, the hair on my hair arms was sticking straight up! And I really think it shows what the Olympics is! The Olympics is about bringing so many countries, every single country, together in one city to compete," Phelps said.
When did Michael Phelps take up golf?
Michael Phelps retired from competitive swimming after the 2012 Olympic Games. He was 27 years old and had won 18 Olympic gold medals. It was then that he discovered golf and gradually developed an inclination towards it.
Shortly after, in 2013, Phelps participated in the Golf Channel show "The Haney Project," hosted by renowned golf coach Hank Haney. According to Phelps, Haney was the one who truly taught him the game.
Speaking to "Golf.com" in January this year, the 23-time Olympic gold medalist said,
"He (Haney) really taught me the game. We broke 90 for the first time. I was not very good. Hit it a mile, but never know which way it went."
Phelps said in the same interview that he had lowered his handicap to 14 at that point but temporarily got back to swimming ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he added five more Olympic gold medals to his tally.
After his second and final retirement, it was not until 2021-2022 that Phelps returned to golf with the same vigor as before. By his own estimation, he played about 80 rounds of golf in 2023. He also assured that his current handicap is 7, adding that he plans to get it much lower:
"I have goals in the game. I’d like to get down to a scratch."
Michael Phelps is arguably one of the greatest swimmers to grace the pool. The Maryland-based swimmer is the most decorated Olympian in the history of the Games, with 28 medals to his name, out of which 23 are gold.