Andy Murray plays off a seven handicap (Image: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Andy Murray is aiming to become a scratch golfer after retiring from tennis earlier this year and the two-time Wimbledon champion has already claimed his first piece of silverware in the sport.
Former tennis star Andy Murray has secured his first golfing title since trading his racket for clubs.
Following his retirement from tennis after the Olympic Games in August, Murray has devoted himself to mastering the sport of golf, as reflected in the update of his Twitter bio from “I play tennis” to “I played tennis. I now play golf.”
The 37-year-old has brought his competitive drive to the golf course, aiming to achieve a scratch handicap within a few years. Having recently impressed fellow Scottish golfer Bob MacIntyre with his skills at the BMW PGA Championship’s Pro-Am event, Murray has now claimed his first golfing trophy.
On Tuesday, he participated in the inaugural BTJA Mike Dickson Golf Day at Hanbury Manor Golf Club in Hertfordshire, an event organised by the British Tennis Journalists’ Association in memory of the late Daily Mail journalist Mike Dickson. The BTJA announced Murray’s victory on Twitter, which comes as no surprise given his already impressive golfing abilities. Currently holding a handicap of seven, Murray is receiving regular lessons, and MacIntyre predicts rapid improvement.
“For someone that’s not really played that much, I thought he was good,” world No. 16 MacIntyre said at Wentworth last month. “I was very impressed with his game. He’ll be scratch in no time.”
Murray is revelling in the challenge of a different sport. Speaking at Wentworth, the two-time Wimbledon champion said: “It’s a different sort of nerves, because you are comfortable in the sort of tennis environment. I’m not thinking I’m going to walk out on the tennis court and forget how to hit the ball.
“Whereas here, there’s people standing five metres away from where I’m driving, and I’m like, I’m useless at this game. You just want to try and keep the ball in play and don’t mess up too much.
“I’m obviously getting to practise a lot more than the average person. I obviously played a bit when I was younger, and if I can get the right sort of lessons and practise the right things, then yeah, I’ve got a chance of doing that.
“The lessons have made a huge difference. That’s been the most important thing for me. I used to go down to the range and hit lots of balls, and I could hit a few good ones. But if you have a fundamental flaw in your swing or what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter how many balls you hit on the range. So, getting lessons and practising those things is helping.”
