News that Gareth Bale (33, Wales), who reigned as the world’s best winger in Real Madrid in the Spanish Primera League, will be on the stage of the American Professional Golf (PGA) tour dominated the golf world during the Lunar New Year holidays.
On the 24th, two weeks after announcing his retirement on social network service (SNS) on the 9th (Korean time), Bale left a feed on his SNS saying, “I am happy to play at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am held early next month.” The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am opens on the 3rd of next month at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, USA. One of the most traditional tournaments on the PGA Tour, it is a tournament in which 156 players and 156 celebrities pair up. In 1937, Sam Sneed (82 wins in total) became the first champion, so the history is worth guessing.
Celebrities, athletes, and entertainers participate in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am because it was founded by singer, actor, and golf fanatic Bing Crosby. Crosby, who loved golf enough to compete in the British Amateur Championship, created a tournament in 1937 in which professionals and amateurs round together. It has developed into a pro-am tournament loved by Americans in the form of rounds during the day and parties at night. 토토사이트
It is so popular that not only celebrities and sports stars, but also US presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton pay 5,000 to 10,000 dollars to participate in the contest. That means Bale deserves to be proud of competing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bale is also a golf fanatic. Even when he was unable to play due to injury, he played rounds, causing discord with the manager in the Welsh national team and Real Madrid. Despite his natural talent, some blamed him for missing out on a chance to become a greater player by immersing himself in other sports. The fact that the news of his participation in the Pro-Am event turned into a ‘PGA Tour challenge’ can be seen as an extension of this.
No matter how talented you are, changing the sport to a professional player is not an easy task. Even the greatest winger in history is near impossible to qualify for the PGA Tour in his early-to-mid 30s. It is in the same context that Park Chan-ho (50), the ‘Korean Express’, and Yoon Seok-min (37), the ‘National Ace’, who challenged to enter the Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour, tasted frustration at the threshold of the pro test.
Rather, Park Chan-ho and Yoon Seok-min acknowledged that “no matter how hard you try, you cannot conquer golf”, they turned their attention to enjoying golf itself. Wouldn’t Bale live a life after retirement, enjoying pro-am tournaments and amateur invitational tournaments? Becoming a professional is meaningful, but the person who enjoys golf is the winner. Golf is such a sport.