Sport Stars' Handicaps Revealed Ahead Of BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am
Gareth Bale, John Terry, Theo Walcott and numerous sports stars will line up alongside some of the best golfers in the world at Wentworth
The golf handicaps of Gareth Bale, John Terry and a host of sporting stars have been revealed after the celebrity Pro-am start sheet was confirmed ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm , Viktor Hovland and all of Europe's Ryder Cup team are due to play in the tournament this week ahead of taking on Team USA in Rome later this month.
But many fans will be just as keen to catch a glimpse of the likes of former Real Madrid superstar Bale, who is in a stellar fourball with McIlroy , Jermaine Jenas and JP McManus.
Bale's handicap is listed as an impressive 0.5 after retiring earlier this year in January; since then he has played a lot of golf. That included an appearance in the pro-am before January’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where he teed it up alongside Rahm, who said Bale “has no business being that good at golf.” The following month, Bale also played in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and later posted footage of a recent hole in one on his social media.
Other retired footballers teeing it up this week at Wentworth include Chelsea legend Terry (7.5), Theo Walcott (10.2), Steve Sidwell (9.1), Rachel Finnis-Brown (15), Ben Foster (8), Jenas (3) and Jimmy Bullard (scratch), while Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha is playing off a 12 handicap.
There are a number of ex-cricketers in the field too, including recently retired Stuart Broad (6.9), who called it a day after The Ashes. Former England captain Andrew Strauss (1.8) is playing along with Kevin Pietersen (2.2). While James Anderson (2.6) is in the field despite still playing cricket at aged 41.
Elsewhere on the start sheet, jockey Sir AP McCoy (12.3) possesses a higher handicap but former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker (+0.8) is among the best amateurs in the field.
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The action gets under way on Wednesday morning. Take a look at the full start list for the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am below.
James Nursey is a freelance contributor to Golf Monthly after spending over 20 years as a sports reporter in newspapers. During a 17-year career with the Daily Mirror, he covered mainly football but reported from The Open annually and also covered a Ryder Cup and three US Opens. He counts a pre-tournament exclusive with Justin Rose at Merion in 2013 as one of his most memorable as the Englishman went on to win his first Major and later repeated much of the interview in his winner’s speech. Now, after choosing to leave full-time work in newspapers, James, who is a keen single-figure player, is writing about golf more. His favourite track is the Old Course after attending St Andrews University but has since played mainly at Edgbaston, where he is on the honours board. He is an active member of the Association of Golf Writers and Press Golfing Society but his favourite round is playing the game with his children. James is currently playing: Driver: Ping G400 3 wood: Ping i20 Hybrid: Ping i20 Irons: Ping i500 4-SW Wedges: Ping Glide forged 50, 56 Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Ball: Titleist ProVI
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