Boston Celtics All-NBA swingman Jayson Tatum has been working on his golf game since leaving the bubble, and reportedly has progressed to being a very solid driver considering he had just picked up the sport in May, reports Golfweek’s Todd Kelly.
Tatum, who in September told USA TODAY Sports in September he was the best golfer on the team (does Danny Ainge count?), has been seen on Twitter in a clip posted by Fortune Sports’ Chris Grenham driving the ball a whopping 319 yards.
For those of you who don’t golf, that’s very far, particularly for someone who would usually be considered a novice in terms of time they’ve been playing the game.
For context, it’s farther than the average distance hit by pros with a driver.
Jayson Tatum golf update: he’s driving the ball 319 yards (286 yards in the air). pic.twitter.com/15vFvmWrTt
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) October 18, 2020
Part of what has made Tatum so good at the sport so fast is related to his length and strength used to play basketball; in an interview with his golf trainer Daniel Boisvert by Jay King of The Athletic, Boisvert revealed the Missouri native’s primary sport provided a built-in advantage.
“He makes half swings at 118 MPH … but with a wingspan and the physics of it, he’s got a very, very long lever to create speed for him […],” he explained, “so he’s well ahead of (the PGA Tour average) without even really going at it.”
The Duke product credited his stepfather on J.J. Redick’s “Old Man and the Three” podcast for giving him the golfing bug ahead of Boston’s time in the bubble — incidentally the perfect place for a budding golf enthusiast.
A sport that’s proven historically popular among his fellow Celtic alumni, it’ll be interesting to see just how far Tatum takes his new hobby.
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