“You love to see it”: Fans react as soccer legend Gareth Bale participates at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Gareth Bale made his PGA Tour debut just 23 days after retiring from football. The former Real Madrid star is an avid golf fan and has enjoyed playing the game casually over the years. With is professional football career coming to an end, the Welshman has decided to begin his professional golfing journey.
Bale started his first major outing at the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am playing alongside professional and amateur golfers. The 33-year-old made his debut on Thursday in the opening round of the tournament.
The 33-year-old star enjoys a tremendous fan following all around the globe, and his fans online were thrilled to watch him play on the green.
A fan took to his Twitter account to write:
"Turn on the Pebble Beach feed and the first shot is Gareth Bale. You love to see it."
Turn on the Pebble Beach feed and the first shot is Gareth Bale. You love to see it.
Bale started the tournament with a seven-under-par 65 while playing with professional golfer Joseph Bramlett. The Welshman said he was happy with his first shot.
"It was a great shot. I tried to play it into the bank and hope for the best, as all amateur golfers would. It was nice to see it roll up nice and close. I finished it off nicely as well. I can't really say much more," he said.
Despite having played in front of millions of people under glittering lights with hundreds of cameras on him, the former Tottenham player was nervous about his first tee-off.
"I think every amateur will tell you that", the 33-year-old said. "Even if we are used to playing in front of 80,000 or more on live TV it's a completely different sport. It's a good experience but luckily I hit one of my best shots down the first fairway"
The Pebble Beach Pro-Am features 156 professional and amateur players.
Professional golfers are stunned by Gareth Bale's golfing skills
The former Real Madrid forward stunned professional golfers with his amazing performance. US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick shared the course with the budding golfer on Wednesday during a practice session and was amazed at his golfing skills.
Speaking about playing with Bale, the English golfer stated that he enjoyed the experience.
"It was really cool. First time I've officially met him. So that was obviously good to see him. Really, really enjoyed it. Asking him questions about football and he's asking questions about golf and stuff. We had a really enjoyable front nine and there's not many better places to do it than around here," Fitzpatrick said.
Jon Rahm also spoke about Bale's golfing in one of his interviews during the Farmers Insurance Open, saying that it wasn't fair to be so talented in two sports.
"I told Gareth, you can't be so good at professional football and golf at the same time, it just doesn't seem fair! Can't be dedicated to one thing and have this much talent for golf, it's not fair in the slightest. You can tell he loves this sport, he loves golf and he really wants to get to play a little bit more," Rahm said.
Fitzpatrick was asked to comment on Rahm's remarks and confirmed the Welshman's talent.
"I don't know what Jon said but yeah, he [Bale] is obviously a good player. He has obviously got a lot of talent. Yeah, he was impressive," he said.