Hidden talents of Tour players
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The hidden talents of professional golfers: How many of these did you know?
Rafa Cabrera Bello has it all. Movie star good looks, money, and great golf game. But his talents aren’t just confined to golf – he’s also a dab hand at surfing, and he hit headlines in June when he took time out from the BMW International Open to prove it.
Swapping his golf clubs for a surfboard, the Ryder Cup star rode the famous wave on the Eisbach at Munich’s English Garden. Impressed? We were, too, but that was before we found out about these golfers who could have turned pro in another sport…
Rickie Fowler, the boy racer
Rickie Fowler’s childhood was spent riding dirt bikes for fun. Aged 12, he was known to gun his Suzuki RM125 off 50-foot jumps. Golf remained in the backseat until a badly-broken ankle ended his motocross career before it had even begun. Since then, he’s turned his attention to racing on four wheels, and has even talked about competing at Le Mans one day.
DJ: Three-point king
Dustin Johnson is 6ft 4in, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised that he can dunk a basketball barefoot. Still, few can claim to have beaten former NBA star Shane Battier in a three-point shooting contest. It helps, of course, that basketball runs in DJ’s blood. His grandfather Art Whisnant played for South Carolina and is in the university’s sports hall of fame.
Sergio Garcia: Footballer-turned Master
Unlike his peers, Sergio Garcia has played another sport professionally. In 2010, the Masters champ made a cameo appearance for his hometown side, CF Borriol, in La Liga’s third division. Garcia only played eight minutes, but it’s more than most club presidents have managed. Mind you, that might explain how he got on the bench in the rst place!
Paul McGinley’s second coming
Paul McGinley never wanted to become a golfer. His dream was to play for Dublin in the All-Ireland gaelic football nal. He had a good chance of doing so as well, but a broken kneecap cruelly ended his promising career at the age of just 19. Gaelic football’s loss was soon golf’s gain as he turned pro six years later.
Gary Woodland’s perfect three ball
Judging by his resume, Gary Woodland was one of those kids who was always picked rst in PE. Aged 16, the PGA Tour star won the American Amateur Baseball Congress national title in Georgia. He then took up a basketball scholarship at Washburn University but left after a year to play golf at the University of Kansas.
Phil Mickelson: From Minors to Majors
Phil is never as comfortable as when he’s playing a pitch shot, so it makes sense he once chanced his luck as a right-handed pitcher. In 2003, he tried out for the Toledo Mud Hens, but was knocked back after failing to throw above 70mph. The closest he got to the major league was throwing the first pitch at a Yankees game in 2011.
