Andy Murray produces golf masterclass on Alfred Dunhill Links Championship debut

Former world number one Andy Murray has made a sparkling start at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The 38-year-old, regarded as the greatest British player in the history of tennis in the Open era, retired from professional tennis in 2024 due to struggles with fitness concerns.

Ever since retiring from the sport, Murray has turned his attention to playing golf, and in recent years, he has featured in the last two editions of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. According to a report published by British media outlet Daily Express, Murray has made an impressive debut in the ongoing Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

Murray partnered with the professional golfer Eddie Pepperell as the two finished the opening day seven under after the first 18 holes. They were behind the leaders, Jack Senior and Dery Desmond, as they tied for the 94th and 10 shots. During the competition, Murray is set to play on three courses, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.

Even though the impressive start on day one might not be enough for Murray and Pepperell to go on and win the competition, it definitely showed Murray’s golfing skills. Murray, in the past, while playing at the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am, expressed his desire to play in The Open but admitted that he is not yet good enough to join the group of players who compete at that level.

"I don't have ambitions of playing in The Open,” said Murray earlier this year. "I want to try and play in the regional qualifying at some stage. A couple of my friends have done it, and it would just be a fun thing to do if you got to the level where you're able to do that, I would do it, but I certainly don't think I would have any chance of qualifying for The Open. I'm fully aware of how good the players that play in those events are and how good the pros are in comparison to amateurs. Even guys that play off +2, 3 are miles off what these guys are."

Murray, who won three Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career, surprisingly joined his former competitor, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, as his coach after retiring from the sport. The decision surprised many, as the two had fiercely competed at the highest level for more than a decade, and also because Murray had recently retired from the sport.

That partnership did not go well, as the two decided to end it after just six months, following a series of poor results. At that time, Djokovic was full of praise for Murray, who, according to him, was a great coach to have, mainly because of his technical ability. "Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court. I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together,” wrote Djokovic at the time when the two decided to split.

Recently, in an interview, Murray was asked about whether he would like to return to coaching. In response to that, Murray stated that he would only return to coaching on one condition. “Obviously with Novak I did it for a period and it was great experience and it was a unique opportunity to do it but there are certain things about the job,” said Murray back then. “If you want to do it well, you need to spend time on the road. If it is a British player that is London-based, it becomes easier because the off weeks, at least you are close to home. But if it is a player who lives elsewhere, it means a lot of time away from the family and I have no interest in doing that just now because I don’t want to be away from them. I think in the future I would probably do it again - it is not like I hated it so much that I wouldn't do it. There were bits of it that I liked but for now I just don’t want to be on the road and I don’t want to do it.”