Welsh footballer Gareth Bale once held up a banner that read, “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order,” which seemed to rub football fans in Madrid the wrong way, as he was playing for Real Madrid but put golf before it. Now, he is on golf fans’ radar as he played in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am with Europe’s No. 1 golfer Rory McIlroy.

In a social media clip of the Pro-Am, Bale is seen picking McIlroy’s brain about his golf swing, with McIlroy saying that if he focuses on his swing, he loses awareness of the target, and that the ground in front of him becomes more important than the target. He also added that it’s hard to separate the two. Bale was intently listening and nodding.

In a second clip, as they were walking down the hole at the home of European golf, the Wentworth Club, McIlroy was expanding on his swing philosophy, saying, “My peak philosophy in my golf swing is like, ‘two feet before impact’. But then I would lose speed coming into the ball because I wasn’t strong enough to hold it. So did a lot of work on that.” Bale related to it, saying it was similar to his swing, where losing balance on the downswing was his bane, and he wasn’t sure if he was holding his wrist angle correctly through the swing.

The Pro-Am was a star-studded event that built a lot of buzz for the PGA Championship this weekend. It featured many big names, such as Spider-Man star Tom Holland, footballer Jordan Pickford, and cricketers Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. Tommy Fleetwood played with Tom Holland and his brothers, and they won the round together with a low score of 39.

Amidst all of this, it was Bale’s golf chat with Rory McIlroy that caught online fans’ attention, where the comments ranged from disparaging and mocking to disrespectful. Let’s take a look at some of the reactions.

Fans left unimpressed by Bale’s contribution to the conversation

“One golfer and one non golfer who thinks he is,” one commenter wrote, referring to Bale as a non-golfer. However, Bale has been playing golf for some time. He started during his Tottenham days, developed a liking for it, and would play regularly thereafter. But the mix wasn’t as acceptable in Spain as it was in England, and he would play so often that it led to complaints from his own teammates. Another commenter wrote, “Bale acting like he is in same league as Rory lol.”

Rory McIlroy has spoken about Bale’s golfing ability before. On the football podcast Stick to Football, he said that Bale is probably the best footballer who plays golf. He described his swing as athletic and said that Bale, being an athlete, has the ability to do well in golf. However, he also noted that what Bale was lacking was managing the game on the course, which he was learning to do. One commenter disparaged Bale’s curiosity and work ethic to better his golf game as “Gareth bale trying to make it all about himself 🙄 shock.”

Others commented on how Bale talking to McIlroy is like a high handicapper talking to a low handicapper. One commenter wrote, “Rory must feel how my +2 mate feels when I talk about my 16 hcp swing,” humorously expressing a self-deprecating but relatable feeling that all who pursue the game have felt at some point. Another wrote, “« Sounds familiar to mine » 😂😂 when the 25 handicap comes to comment your swing at the range !” Interestingly, Bale played as a scratch golfer in the Pro-Am, which is a very big achievement for an amateur golfer.

As much as the involvement of big names from the larger public sphere is disparaged for their golfing ability, it is a great way of growing the game. Pro-Ams have been a part of golf for a long time, bringing out the crowds and building excitement for events. The entire appeal of a Pro-Am is to show how good professional golfers are compared to even very good amateurs. In that way, the commenters get the point.