Ash Barty shocked the sports world on Wednesday by announcing her retirement from professional tennis, despite reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champions.
But just 25 years old, could the current number 1 ranked female tennis player in the world be the next aspiring professional golfer?
The Australian is a “fanatic” of the sport – Barty told the Australian Golf Digest in February 2021 – and she’s pretty good at it too, once impressing Tiger Woods.
At the 2019 Presidents Cup in Barty’s home, she was invited to start the event and after making a few swings, Big Cat liked what he saw.
“She has a big swing, are you kidding?” Woods said.
When COVID-19 stopped playing professional tennis – and almost everything else – just a few months later, Barty took advantage of her time by working on her golf game. She cut her handicap from 10 to 4 and then won the Brookwater Golf & Country Club his annual Ladies Club Championship.
However, their love for golf goes back a long way.
“My dad (Robert) was a very good golfer,” Barty told the Australian Golf Digest. “He represented Australia as an amateur and took steps to go to university and go through that path to become a touring professional, but it did not work out for him in the end. He decided to stay at home and eventually d. ‘Going away. playing a little more golf and Dad and I started playing a little bit together.I think I was hooked from that moment on.
“Golf has always been a sport that came very naturally to me. I mean, even my mother was a very, very good golfer herself and her whole family loved to play. I think if it was a sport that really belongs in the Barty genes, it’s probably golf, more than tennis.
Barty is pretty much the three-sport athlete. Between 2015-16, she took a break from tennis and played professional cricket in Brisbane. And if the three-time Grand Slam winner decides to take up golf competitively after her tennis career, she would not be the first to do so.
Fellow Aussie Scott Draper played professionally and tried to make it to the PGA Tour. Marty Fish excelled at the celebrity circuit, winning both Diamond Resorts Invitational at the American Century Championship. Even though a year ago, Barty did not think she would follow suit.
“It’s funny to listen to other golfers suggest that I could become a professional golfer if I got involved,” Barty said. “There was always something about the joke with my uncle when I used to mumble around and play with him. He always said he was my caddy on the LPGA Tour, but no, I mean, for me there are two sports enough.Tennis is of course the focus and cricket was a bit fun but golf for me is a hobby.I love it.
With her illustrated tennis career now in the back, maybe Barty is rethinking that statement? She will have plenty of time to think about embarking on a third sports career. But for the moment, she said in her retirement video that she is focusing on “Ash Barty being the person for a while.”
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