Andy Murray is facing a new kind of pressure from his golfing partner as the tennis icon prepares for a maiden appearance at a PGA event next week.
It was announced on Monday that the 37-year-old is partnering up with compatriot and professional golfer Robert MacIntyre to play as a pair in the PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth from September 17-22.
It comes less than two months after Murray hung up his racket and retired from tennis, leaving behind a groundbreaking career in which he became the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles title in 77 years.
But his first foray into golf offers a new challenge altogether – even if Murray is an avid golf player in his spare time. He recently posted clips on social media of him playing against his close friend Dan Evans.
This time, he will take to a different type of grass surface at Wentworth and MacIntyre, 28, is eager to see how the former British No. 1 fares in a new discipline after watching him practice his swing.
“Andy is a hero to so many people in Scotland – and across the world – and it’s pretty exciting to be playing alongside him in his BMW PGA Championship debut,” MacIntrye said.
“He’s been absolutely dedicated to tennis during his incredible career, but it looks like he’s been playing plenty of golf since his retirement, so I’m looking forward to seeing if all that practice has paid off!”
Murray has had more time to enjoy his fledging golf career since he bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics. And the two-time gold medalist admitted he doesn’t miss tennis as much as he thought.
“Since I’ve stopped, I feel really free and have got lots of time to do whatever it is I want,” Murray told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme. “I can dedicate time to my children and have free time to play golf or go to the gym on my own terms. It is really nice and I didn’t expect that.
“I was expecting to find retirement hard and be missing tennis a lot and wanting to get back on the tennis court on tour. So far, it has been the complete opposite to what I was thinking.”
Having spent some much-needed downtime with his wife, Kim, and their four children, Murray no longer feels guilty about leaving his children and wife behind to focus on his career.
“The thing that I always found difficult in recent years was that there was always a guilt associated with what I was doing,” he added.
“If I was going away for a trip of like three to four weeks, I would feel guilty leaving my children at home or being away from my wife for a long time with them, so missing the kids I found hard.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk