Andy Murray is already stepping up his plans to take on a new sport after calling time on his tennis career. The legendary Scot, a former world No 1 and winner of three Grand Slams, announced his retirement in August.
The 37-year-old’s battles with a hip injury and fitness forced him to make the difficult decision to leave tennis. But he is now focusing his efforts on playing on a different type of grass surface.
Murray has swapped his tennis shoes for golf footwear since announcing his retirement in August after playing at the Paris Olympics with Dan Evans.
The father-of-four vowed to spend some quality time with his family and recently revealed he doesn’t regret his decision to step away from the game, as he pursues another passion in his life: golf.
The Dunblane native has opted to keep himself busy on the golf course and provided an update on his work, giving his 2.2 million followers on Instagram a sneak peek of his abilities.
“Slight progress,” Murray wrote in the caption of the snippet, which showed him working on his tee shots and displaying an impressive technique with his swing.
His X (formerly known as Twitter) bio, which once proudly declared: “I play tennis”, has now been updated to reflect his career shift: “I played tennis. I now play golf.”
Despite only being a few months into his new ‘career’, Murray has already clinched his first trophy. He made his PGA Tour debut after entering the BMW PGA Championship’s Pro-Am event at Wentworth, where he teamed up with celebrities.
Murray was then invited to play in an event organised by the British Tennis Journalists’ Association (BTJA) to honour renowned journalist Mick Dickson, who passed away in January at the age of 59.
The Scot entered the BTJA Mike Dickson Golf Day inaugural event at Hanbury Manor Golf Club in Hertfordshire and the BJTA later confirmed that Murray had emerged as their champion.
Currently playing off a seven handicap, Murray is taking regular lessons to hone his craft, while his friend, Scottish professional golfer Bob MacIntyre, has been giving him tips following their pairing at Wentworth.
The world No 16 believes his compatriot’s game will only improve after being pleasantly surprised by his skills on the driving range.
“For someone that’s not really played that much, I thought he was good,” MacIntyre said. “I was very impressed with his game. He’ll be scratch in no time.”