Barely a year after hanging up his tennis racket, three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray is making waves in another sport as the tennis legend has enjoyed an amazing few weeks on the golf course.
Former world No 1 Murray retired from tennis last August with his last-ever professional tournament the 2024 Paris Olympics at Roland Garros, but instead of disappearing from the sporting world, the two-time Wimbledon champion has switched his focus to golf and has fallen in love with the sport.
And he is not just playing for fun as he has impressed many golfing pundits with the speed with which his handicap has dropped from 20 to single figures inside a year.
There have been several highs on the greens as he drained an incredible eagle putt from the Valley of Sin on the par-4 18th hole at St Andrews in late August.
Not long after, he made another 18th hole eagle, this time on the par-5 closer at Wentworth in the BMW PGA Championship and last week he played in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where he partnered Eddie Pepperell to a top 20 finish in the team competition.
The tennis great chatted to Tennis365.com after his round at Wentworth as he discussed swapping his tennis racket for golf clubs, playing with former Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale and the difference between tennis and golf crowds.
Having turned professional in 2004, Murray enjoyed two full decades in tennis, and he reached the very top as he won three majors, reached No 1 in the ATP Rankings and won two gold medals in the singles at the Olympics.
Now aged 38, Murray is starting over and he admits that although both are individual sports, it’s completely different.
“I like that in golf you have time in between shots to reflect and calm down. In tennis, your heart rate can get extremely high, you play a long point, an important point, and the tension builds and builds,” he told Tennis365.com.
“For me, the hard part about golf is not in-between shots, it’s when you’re standing over the ball, making sure not too many thoughts creep into your head and actually just getting the club moving properly. That’s the hard part.”
Tennis crowds versus golf crowds
Murray featured on the biggest stages in tennis as he played on Wimbledon’s famous Centre Court, Arthur Ashe at the US Open, Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros and Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open.
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He has also had his fair share of hostile crowds so how do tennis spectators compare to golf crowds?
“Well, the crowd aren’t in danger when I’m playing tennis, for one thing!” he said jokingly. “In tennis, there were times when the crowd became a norm and others when I used it to my advantage.
“It gave me positive energy, an adrenaline rush. In golf I’m more aware that there are people watching because you might do something embarrassing, to be honest. I’m more fearful of golf crowds than tennis ones, but that’s because of what I might do wrong!”
Murray’s short golfing career has already seen him rub shoulders with another sporting legend as he played with Welsh great Bale, but the football star is in a different league.
“I’ve played with him a few times socially. He’s a member at Wentworth and we message each other on a group chat with another couple of guys,” he revealed.
“He’s been playing for a very long time and I think he played a lot when he was playing football as well. He’s a very good golfer. I enjoy playing with him.”
Does Murray miss his first love?
Following his retirement in 2024, Murray made a quick transition from tennis player to tennis coach as he was appointed fellow great Novak Djokovic’s interim coach. They had limited success with Djokovic finishing runner-up at his year’s Miami Open and not long after it was announced that Murray’s stint had come to an end.
“I don’t really miss it. I drove past Wimbledon a few times during the Championships and thought it would be nice to still be playing, but that was it,” he said.
“Not before and not since. It’s the same with coaching. There were bits of it that I liked, but right now I don’t want to be on the road. I just don’t want to do it.”
The post Andy Murray reveals why he is fearful of golf crowds and if he misses tennis in exclusive appeared first on Tennis365.
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