- The former Wales captain shot a remarkable round of 1-under 71 at Carnoustie
- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Bloomberg and Ronan Keating were also there
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Bill Murray, Piers Morgan, and Gareth Bale have been hitting the links at St Andrews with other celebrity stars as part of the Pro-Am tournament before the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Bale, who retired from professional soccer last year, shot a remarkable round of 1-under 71 at Carnoustie, which is considered as the toughest course on the three-track rotation at this week’s $5million prize fund tournament.
‘We had a great day,’ he told Sky Sports after the round. ‘To be fair the first six or seven holes we couldn’t have asked for better weather, then the wind and rain came in and it was a great test. It was the first time I had been here and it’s an incredible golf course.
‘I shot 1-under today. The tees were a bit further forward so I could obviously take advantage of my distance and stuff, so it was good, I can’t complain.’
Considering that the former Real Madrid and Wales winger has a handicap of 0.5, it didn’t come as a surprise that he even outperformed his own team partner and 2020 Wales Open champion, Romain Langasque, who carded a 2-over 74.
Ex-Wales captain and Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale at the Alfred Dunhill Links on Thursday
Actor & comedian Bill Murray made his ninth appearance at the Pro-Am in Scotland this week
Piers Morgan was also at the Pro-Am on Thursday after practicing with Lord Ian Botham
Together, Langasque and Bale teamed up for an opening round of 6-under par, but ended the day tied in 74th place.
Morgan – an avid Arsenal fan – was also in Bale’s group, to which the former Spurs man said: ‘I need more than ear plugs around Piers, it didn’t work unfortunately.’
Morgan also played a practice round with cricket legend Lord Ian Botham prior to the Pro-Am’s start on Thursday.
He, along with Bale and Murray, will get a chance to play on easier courses on Friday and Saturday, starting by Kingsbarns before taking on the Old Course at St Andrews.
Morgan – an Arsenal fan – poked fun at Bale for his ties to Spurs throughout Thursday’s round
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones also showed up at the Alfred Dunhill Links on Thursday
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg sported a beanie while in full swing, Thursday
Ronan Keating – the ex-lead singer of the band Boyzone – plays his second shot on the 16th hole
The highest-ranked 20 teams qualify for the final round at St Andrews on Sunday.
Bale was a member of the victorious Team Monty at the Celebrity Ryder Cup at Marco Simone before the actual Ryder Cup got underway last week.
He also played with Rory McIlroy in the BMW PGA Pro-Am at Wentworth.
Murray, who plays a lot of golf at Pebble Beach, where he won the AT&T Pro-Am with professional D.A. Points, made his ninth appearance in the Alfred Dunhill Links this week.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and singer Ronan Keating are also in Scotland for the Pro-Am tournament.
