On Wednesday, however, it was time for the celebrities to battle it out.
Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin are the two captains, and including them, there are six players on each team. On Team Montgomerie are Gareth Bale (football —or soccer to the Americans — legend), Garrett Hilbert (Dude Perfect member), Leonardo Fioravanti (Italian surfer), Novak Djokovic (tennis legend) and Kipp Popert.
Team Pavin consists of Andriy Shevchenko (former football professional), Kathryn Newton (American actress, best known for her role as Cassie Lang in Marvel’s Antman series), Victor Cruz (American football legend), Carlos Sainz (F1 driver) and Tomasso Perrino.
Check out some of the best photos from the 2023 Ryder Cup All-Star Match below.
The former LAFC star has spoken about a “chilled” environment in MLS
Gareth Bale has advised Lionel Messi to not get too down if he drops a few games in MLS because in his eyes, there really are no consequences for losing in the league anyway.
Messi’s hugely anticipated move to Inter Miami is set to be sealed in the coming days, with the former Barcelona star following in the footsteps of ex-Real Madrid star Bale.
After spending only a half season in MLS with LAFC, Bale retired this winter following the World Cup. Bale did not see the field much in MLS as he struggled with injuries, but came through with a dramatic 128th-minute header to tie MLS Cup in a game LAFC would eventually win on penalties.
In an interview with BT Sport, Bale compared the life-or-death nature of every game at Real Madrid with what he described as the “chilled” vibe in MLS.
“It is a lot more chilled,” he said. “If you lose at [Real] Madrid, it is like the world has ended. You are crucified. You feel down. You go home and you’re not happy.
“They accept losing a bit more. There is no consequence. You can’t get relegated over there. When you lose a game you go on to the next one. They accept losing a lot better over there. They know how to lose but they celebrate every win like you have won the championship. He will definitely enjoy it.”
"It's a lot more chilled… if you lose at [Real] Madrid, it's like the world's ended, you get crucified."
Gareth Bale lifts the lid on the mentality towards football in MLS, after Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami 🌴 pic.twitter.com/946QbMbRZK
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 21, 2023
Longtime MLS defender A.J. DeLaGarza took umbrage with Bale’s remarks, noting that comparing Real Madrid to LAFC is not exactly apples to apples.
Cmon man. Ask our wives, our children, our parents, our friends how fun it was being around us after we lose games in MLS. We also don’t have one of the highest payrolls in the entire football world. https://t.co/CAgbrPuCLo
Bale has a point though, too: MLS teams don’t have the consequence of relegation, and 62 percent of the league’s teams will make the playoffs this season. But he is also a rich and famous global superstar who won MLS Cup and the Supporters’ Shield in his eight-month stay in the league. Perhaps Bale is not exactly the authority on what the consequence of failure in MLS really could be.
Could Bale be heading from the golf course to League Two?
After seeing Wrexham promoted to League Two for next season, co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are now hoping to sweet talk none other than Gareth Bale into coming out of retirement to join the Welsh club.
Reynolds and McElhenney definitely have the right idea for a meeting venue, aiming to persuade Bale during a round of golf.
Though Bale seems to be enjoying a retirement that has seen him golf more than ever, Wrexham‘s celebrity owners are hoping that a little bit of cajoling on the golf course, combined with Bale’s Welsh heritage, could get him to change his mind.
Hey @GarethBale11 let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season 🏴 🏴 🏴 🏴 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FZgXZbM4zx
If the chance to play for a TV-star club in his home country isn’t enticing enough, Reynolds offered to sweeten the deal on Twitter, saying he “will shave a professional-grade golf course into Rob’s back if you’ll give Wrexham a season.”
Now that’s pretty enticing.
Wrexham have had some success in this department in the recent past, as former England goalkeeper Ben Foster came out of retirement late in the season and ended up making a vital penalty save for the club on its way to promotion.
Wrexham clinched promotion from the National League last weekend with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood.
“He’s a pretty impressive individual, to be fair. He’s achieved a lot in his game.”
Retired soccer star Gareth Bale is making the rounds on the celebrity golf circuit of late.
A week ago, the former Tottenham and Real Madrid star played with 2021 U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm in the pro-am at the Farmers Insurance Open. This week, he’s competing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am alongside partner Joseph Bramlett. But on Wednesday, Bale, a Wales native, played a nine-hole practice round with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, the reigning U.S. Open champion.
Bale, who has a handicap of two and a replica of Augusta’s 12th hole in his backyard, has impressed the last two U.S. Open champs.
“I told Gareth, you can’t be so good at professional football and golf at the same time, it just doesn’t seem fair!” Rahm said.
Fitzpatrick, who is a longtime Sheffield United fan, said they traded questions on their various sports.
“We had a really enjoyable front nine and there’s not many better places to do it than around here,” Fitzpatrick said.
He also shared a stellar story about a running joke between the two athletes. Fitzpatrick noted that Stellar Group, the company founded and run by Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett, was attempting to sign Fitzpatrick’s brother, Alex, a Walker Cupper and college star at Wake Forest University who turned pro last summer.
“I ended up having a conversation with him and his manager and he jokingly said to me, ‘If you sign for my management company I’ll not score three goals against your team,’” Fitzpatrick recalled. “Obviously I didn’t sign. I’m happy with where I’m at. He decided to score three goals against my team. Just by pure, obviously, pure chance. And I just remember being, watching the game and he scored all three and I was laughing. Obviously disappointed as well.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, Bale made sure Fitzpatrick knew that he hadn’t forgotten his promise to score a hat trick.
“I got sent a picture. Normally, in football, after the game is done, if a player scores a hat trick, all the players in the team sign the ball. And I just got this picture of a signed ball from him,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s a pretty impressive individual, to be fair. He’s achieved a lot in his game.”
“He got two strokes, which I think it’s already wrong. He should be giving strokes back to the rest of the amateurs.”
Jon Rahm doesn’t get star struck very often.
And why should he? The Spaniard is the star in most rooms now. After all, at 28 years old, Rahm already has a major championship and nine wins on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Ahead of this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego – where he won his first Tour event in 2017 and first major at the 2021 U.S. Open – Rahm was part of a star-studded pro-am group that included ESPN’s Michael Collins, golf content creator Tisha Alyn and a soccer player who caused Rahm quite a bit of stress for upwards of the last decade.
“He’s the reason why Real Madrid beat my team pretty much for 10 years, one of the reasons,” said Rahm of Gareth Bale, who recently retired from club and international soccer after a world-class career that saw him dominate for the Spanish titans Real Madrid, as well as England’s Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales National Team. “I told Gareth, you can’t be so good at professional (soccer) and golf at the same time, it just doesn’t seem fair. Can’t be dedicated to one thing and have this much talent for golf, it’s not fair in the slightest.”
“He didn’t ask for anything, nor should he be asking, he’s already good enough,” Rahm raved. “He got two strokes, which I think it’s already wrong. He should be giving strokes back to the rest of the amateurs because he is a very, very good player.”
High praise from a man who is looking to win his third straight PGA Tour start and enters this week’s event on a streak of four wins in his last six worldwide starts. Now No. 3 in the world, Rahm hasn’t finished worse than T-8 in his last seven starts and has a knack for high finishes at Torrey Pines. Since his win in 2017, Rahm has finished T-29, T-5, 2, T-7 and T-3 at the course on the California coast.
“We had a great time, we had a great nine holes,” Rahm continued. “I wish every time I play a pro-am I had a group that entertaining because that nine holes went by very quickly and laughed a lot.”
Acosta’s moment came in the ninth and final minute of stoppage time, with the game tied 1-1. USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner came way off his line to head away a long ball over the top.
It looked like a heads-up clearance by Turner, until it landed right at the foot of the exact player the U.S. didn’t want it to find: Gareth Bale. Five yards into the USMNT half and with Turner miles off his line, Bale was set for a dramatic empty-netter to complete his brace and win the game for Wales.
Seriously, look where Turner is here.
But that’s when Acosta did the only thing he could at that moment: the LAFC midfielder manhandled his club teammate and sent him tumbling to the ground.
Acosta earned the greatest yellow card of his career, and the match ended 1-1.
“It’s a great foul,” U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman told reporters after the game. “It’s professional. It’s important to prevent moments of transition like that so I have no problem with that.”
Amazingly, Acosta kind of called his shot before the game. When asked about Bale, the U.S. midfielder said: “He’s a guy that we definitely have to have eyes on, a guy that we literally [have to] start kicking him around the field and make him feel us and limit his time and space.”
When Bale needed to be kicked, Acosta was there to deliver. The USMNT may just survive the group stage because of it.
Bale is a global ambassador for the R&A and an avid golfer when he’s not on the pitch.
Gareth Bale is a world-class soccer player who has previously won three La Liga titles and five UEFA Champions League titles with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. Now playing in the United States, he recently helped Los Angeles FC win the 2022 MLS Cup.
The 33-year-old from Cardiff, Wales, is also an avid golfer when he’s not on the pitch – just not at this year’s World Cup in Qatar. A key member of the Wales squad that begins the group stage of play on Monday against the United States, Bale and his teammates were told they were not allowed to play golf during the international event, with manager Rob Page wanting the team to be focused on the task at hand.
“Yeah. There’s no golf. We’re out there to do a job,” said Page. “In the past, I may get Gareth, Kieffer Moore or Aaron Ramsey come up to me and say, ‘What’s the plan for tomorrow afternoon? Are there meetings?’ I’d say, ‘No, there’s no meetings, so if you want nine holes then go and play’. But that is when you have a week building up to a double-header. Out there, we won’t have enough time. Every four days there is a game. It’s relentless.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ0oW3SBa3Y/
That doesn’t mean Bale’s golf swing is getting stale in the gulf. A golf simulator has reportedly been installed at the team’s luxury hotel.
“We’ve just been in the swimming pool, playing table tennis, pool and golf,” said Bale’s teammate Mark Harris. “Team spirit is great anyway but games like that help you. Gareth’s very good at the golf. I think most of us have had a swing and we had a go after training as we had some spare time.”
Bale is also a global ambassador for the R&A.
U.S. vs. Wales tees off … kicks off … at 2 p.m. ET on Monday.
Led by its superstar, Wales is feeling loose and ready ahead of its first World Cup in 64 years
AL-RAYYAN, Qatar – He’s a teenage phenom turned worldwide superstar who’s won five UEFA Champions League titles, about a dozen other team honors and myriad individual awards. Already long since an icon in his homeland, he was one of the highest-paid players in the world for much of his time at Real Madrid. And earlier this year he moved to sunny Southern California just in time to become an MLS Cup-winning hero for LAFC in Hollywood fashion.
Yet you could almost feel sorry for Gareth Bale on Sunday as he recounted the angst he and the rest of his nation felt as their Welsh national team missed out on the sport’s biggest party over and over again for his entire lifetime – and three decades before that as well.
“I think France ‘98 was probably my first memory,” the winger told reporters one day before Wales’ Group B clash with the U.S. men’s national team, their first World Cup match since 1958. “I just remember having this pencil case with the logo on it and everything.
“Watching World Cups, it was always a little bit disappointing because Wales wasn’t there,” he continued. “As a kid not having your country in a World Cup, it does take that little bit of specialness away from it. So for Wales to have their country in the World Cup now will be an incredible thing for not just the youngsters, but for the whole nation.”
Bale’s dazzling skill has been the crown jewel for his talented generation of Welsh players. And after hauling their nation – which largely favored rugby over soccer until they hit the scene – out of the footballing doldrums with a run to the Euro 2016 semifinals in their first major tournament appearance in over half a century, Qatar ‘22 represents a chance to seal their legacy.
He makes clear that he is indeed thinking about the long term, too.
“Everybody’s dreamt of it for such a long time. We’ve had so many close calls,” said Bale of his national team, which for so long labored in the shadow of neighboring England, who they’ll meet in their third group-stage match later this month. “For us to be the team that was to get over the line was incredible for us. But most importantly, the best thing was to do it for our country, to grow football in our country, to inspire another generation, to get more kids playing football. Because by doing that, we’re hopefully going to have a stronger national team in the future.”
(Photo by Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)
Welsh manager Rob Page cast his team as the underdogs in Monday’s matchup, perhaps understandably for a nation of just over 3 million people with a fiercely proud identity which they see reflected in their national team.
“You look at England and USA and naturally people will be talking about them as the top two, ourselves and Iran then,” said Page. “But we know on our day – we’ve proven in the Nations League against Belgium, against a very good Dutch team, we can more than compete as well. So look, we’re new to the tournament and there might be a few surprises along the way.
“So there’s no pressure on us. We’re going to enjoy it, but we’re going to compete. And I said to the group, I’ve said before the press: We’re not here to make the numbers up. We’re here because we’ve earned the right to be here. We’re a good team. And we want to show the world how good we are.”
A litany of soft-tissue injuries wrecked the latter stages of Bale’s time at Real Madrid, and rendered him a luxury supersub for LAFC. He’s often patched himself up to play the hero for Wales over the years, though, and sounded confident of doing so again here.
“I’m right where I want to be,” said Bale. “I’m here, night before the first game and ready to go. Yeah, we’ve all been training hard the last week, adapting to the heat, the time zones and we have no excuses now. We put all the hard work in and game-time tomorrow, that’s where we hopefully can step back and deliver what needs to be delivered.”
Berhalter: “The starting point is…matching their intensity”
AL-RAYYAN, Qatar – The U.S. men’s national team expect to get stuck in, and be stuck into in kind, when they make their long-awaited return to the World Cup against Wales on Monday night.
As long as the eight years since their last run at this event may have felt for fans of the United States, the Welsh have been waiting an actual lifetime for this moment — their last World Cup bow was in 1958 — and their current squad has amassed substantial tournament know-how in the last two European Championships.
Then there’s the iconic, still-deadly Gareth Bale.
“I’ve said all along, you’ve probably heard me say this, that I think they’re underrated,” USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter said of Wales at a press conference one day before the game. “They’re an experienced team, international competition experience, solid back line, robust players, very physical, talented difference makers up top with Bale, [Daniel] James, Kieffer Moore.
“Solid midfield, wingbacks that get forward. So overall, I think it’s a really solid team. And for us, the starting point is again — I’ve said this six times already — but it’s just matching their intensity and coming with a competitive mindset, because we know that’s going to be needed in the match.”
Acosta: Bale ‘a catalyst’
Wales’ current generation has showcased collective spirit and tactical intelligence to reach this point. And with most of their players regulars in the top two divisions of English soccer, the Dragons are familiar with the rough-and-tumble side of the game. It was Bale’s LAFC teammate Kellyn Acosta, however, who spoke of the need for a muscular approach to the Welsh talisman in hopes of limiting his impact on the match.
“Don’t let him get to his left foot! Simple as that, right?” cracked Acosta in a conversation with reporters earlier this week. “No, I mean, special players make special plays, and he’s a guy who you definitely have to worry about. Because once he gets into the game and finds space and becomes comfortable and confident, he’s very dangerous.
“And he’s going to be a catalyst for them, so he’s a guy that we definitely have to have eyes on, a guy that we literally [have to] start kicking him around the field and make him feel us and limit his time and space.”
“I tried to avoid [Acosta] kicking me the last two weeks before we came!” joked the former Real Madrid star, who also claimed he’s “right where I want to be” in terms of fitness in Wales’ press conference. “So no, it’s nothing, I’m used to getting kicked on the field. So yeah, nothing’s changed as far as the referees there. Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a fair but difficult game tomorrow that both teams are looking forward to, and I’m sure it’ll be played in a great spirit.”
Bale’s persistent history of soft-tissue injuries continued after his midsummer arrival in MLS, limiting him to 370 minutes and three goals. Then again, one of those goals was the sensational late equalizer in extra time of the MLS Cup final that proved decisive in LAFC’s championship win.
“Obviously an amazing player, a legend. We know he’s extremely skilled, you can see it in the MLS Cup final when he comes on,” said USMNT defender Aaron Long on Saturday. “And he comes on for not that much time and makes a huge impact. So if he’s healthy, I’m sure he’s starting, and yeah, an amazing player, extremely dangerous.”
USMNT not sleeping on Moore
Bale’s threat is well known. A teammate with a smaller reputation, but a substantially larger frame, was another topic of conversation in the leadup: Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore, a towering 6-foot-5 target man who provides the Welsh with a useful outlet up top in addition to a finishing nous that’s reaped eight goals across English Championship and Premier League play this calendar year.
(Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
“He’s a big threat. We [Leeds United] figured that out playing against Bournemouth this year,” said Tyler Adams of Moore. ““He provides a completely different game plan to any team that you put him into. So yeah, obviously, he’s amazing in the air, but he’s probably very underrated in his technical ability and finishing around the goal. So for our center backs, I’ve even already had a word with them. We talked about it in our scouting meeting already: you got to have a body on him at all times.”
It adds up to a substantial first test in Qatar for the US youth movement that’s raised so many hopes across American soccer since the dark days of 2017’s qualification failure.
“It’s a fantastic group of guys. And what I’ve seen is the maturity grow over the last three and a half years with this group,” said Berhalter. “Now I see a tremendous amount of focus within the team. And I think this focus is going to help us go for success. And time’s going to tell if we’re able to play with the best teams in the world.”
In other words, the USMNT should plan to see Bale next Monday
Gareth Bale may not have played much at all in the last two years, but the Wales star says that won’t be a problem at the World Cup.
Speaking at a press conference as Wales continue their preparations for their opening match against the U.S. men’s national team on Monday, Bale said that if he has to play every minute in Group B, he’ll be able to do so without any issues.
“I’m fully fit and ready to go,” said the scorer of possibly the most dramatic MLS Cup goal ever. “If I need to play three 90s, I’ll play three 90s.”
It was less than two weeks ago that Bale admitted he told LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo that he was available to play 20-30 minutes if needed, but couldn’t go longer. For Rob Page and Wales, though, it appears that he’s keeping the door to an expanded workload wide open.
Is he really, though?
Bale’s statement comes on the back of an MLS season in which he played 369 competitive minutes after joining in the summer. From the start of the 2021-22 season with Real Madrid through the end of MLS Cup, Bale played just 659 minutes in actual games.
Bale certainly showed what he can do in short bursts, but being ready to play 270 minutes in eight days seems like a major challenge. Later in the same press conference, Bale himself noted the challenge of rolling from club play into the most awkwardly-scheduled World Cup modern soccer has ever known.
“It’s been difficult — mentally more than anything, I guess — for everybody,” said Bale. “The last three or four weeks, it’s been difficult, even hearing stories of players going down and knowing they’re going to miss the World Cup. Speaking to a few of the boys, even for them having to play this weekend was tough mentally, and we’re just praying not to have an injury at all because it’s such a big occasion.”
On the other hand, Bale has consistently said he was going to be ready for the World Cup, and the last thing the soccer world saw him do was win a header over six-foot-six Jack Elliott to save 10-man LAFC in the dying moments of MLS Cup.
Realistically, USMNT fans should expect to see Bale from the start in the opening game in Qatar. For one thing, a group-stage opener is often the greatest indicator of whether you advance or not. Wales, to the same degree as the USMNT, cannot afford to start their Group B slate with a loss. Both teams will have a game against England looming, and while both teams will try to stay optimistic about that one, it’s not likely to be a game that brings three points. The combination of the morale hit from an opening loss and the resulting pressure from home makes USA-Wales arguably the key game for both countries.
As such, it would make sense for Page to pick and choose the times he relies on Bale wisely. Three full 90-minute showings would require Bale to play over 40% of the minutes he’s played in the last 15 months in barely more than one week. That seems like the recipe for a muscle strain, rather than success.
Budgeting out his minutes to maximize their impact — which means prioritizing the USMNT and Iran, if you really want to get into World Cup game theory — is the smart approach, and Wales have been nothing if not intelligent throughout the qualification process. But for the USMNT, that points to having to keep Bale contained from the start, rather than anticipating a late cameo appearance.
