Two weeks after announcing his retirement, Gareth Bale has announced that he would be making his professional debut in golf. Bale will feature in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which boasts a hefty prize fund of $9million (£7.3m).
As many as 156 pro golfers are set to take part between February 2-5, including US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, as well as Jordan Spieth and Luke Donald, alongside 156 amateurs.
In 2020, Gareth Bale has created a storm by celebrating Wales’ Euro 2020 qualification with a flag that have ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid… In that order’ written on it, referencing Bale’s love of both country and golf.
Earlier this month, Bale announced his retirement from football at the age of 33.
Bale was once the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real Madrid for $132 million in 2013 and he went on to win five Champions League titles for the club.
He was a European champion with Madrid in 2014, ‘16, ’17, ’18 and last year, before finishing his club career by helping Los Angeles FC win the Major League Soccer title.
Key to qualifying Wales for its first World Cup in 64 years, Bale scored in the group stage in Qatar — a penalty against the United States — and his last match was a 3-0 loss to England.
Bale said his decision to retire from international soccer was “by far the hardest of my career.”
“My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am,” Bale said in a statement. “The fortune of being Welsh and being selected to play for and captain Wales, has given me something incomparable to anything else I’ve experienced.
“I am honored and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall, and together have been to unexpected and amazing places.”
He scored 53 Premier League goals and 81 in La Liga. He won three Spanish league titles, one Copa del Rey and one English League Cup title.
