‘I’m useless’ – Andy Murray’s golf game with Strictly’s James Anderson and Anton Du Beke dissected

Murray, who is currently playing with seven players, has previously said his next competitive goal is to become a scratch golfer. Although he expects the project to take a few years, MacIntyre scoffed at the suggestion, saying: “He’ll be a scratch golfer in no time.” Not everyone on social media agreed. Hours after finishing, Murray sent a sardonic message on X, saying: “A big thank you to all the amateur golfers on social media for your constructive criticism of my golf swing. It’s much appreciated.”

Murray also acknowledged it would be nice to be better than Henman, who plays almost every day and has a plus-2 handicap. “He’s been good for a guy who obviously hasn’t played a lot of golf,” MacIntyre added. “He said he’s been practicing a lot (two and a half to three hours a weekday, actually) leading up to this tournament. He changed his clubs yesterday, a full set. I’ve been very impressed with his game.”

Murray was accompanied by his father Willie, who was carrying his bag. He joked afterwards: “My dad might get fired after his performance today. He spent most of his time following Bob around. But no, it was great. During my tennis career, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with my dad. So to be able to do that was a really cool day, too.”

By the final holes, Murray had regained the limping gait that is remembered from his early days in tennis. Nevertheless, he made his last two shots up to the 17th hole. He already looks considerably lighter than when he was playing, and he later confirmed that he had lost 12 pounds in the seven weeks since his retirement.

“I went to the gym three of the first four days after I stopped, worked really hard, then went to Scotland for a few days off,” Murray said. “I haven’t been back since. It’s been five weeks since I went to the gym, probably the longest of my life.

“With my weight, I don’t know if it’s the appetite? If I’m not eating enough? We obviously consume a lot of energy drinks (in tennis), which contain a lot of calories, and I only drink water and coffee now. I expected it to be the opposite.

“I said to my wife, ‘Look, I’m going to make sure that when I stop, I stay in shape.’ And she said, ‘Oh, if you’re just going to play golf and do what Ivan did (a reference to Murray’s former coach Ivan Lendl, who is twice his age), I don’t want that.'”