GARETH BALE has made a dramatic PGA Tour debut - just 23 days after quitting football.
The Wales and Real Madrid legend, 33, recovered from the bunker to par the first hole of the Pebble Beach pro-am.
Smiling Bale looked a world away from the injuries and agony that marred his final months in the beautiful game.
Wales crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage and he barely played for his last club Los Angeles FC amid fitness concerns.
Now, though, the two-handicapper was relaxed as he took on world class golfers in the USA.
The event is held on three separate courses - starting on Thursday at Spyglass Hill.
And Bale shared a joke as he walked out to cheers before going through practice swings in a manner suggesting he was playing purely for fun.
But the ex-Tottenham attacker proved he has the focus of an elite sportsman as he got into trouble on the opening hole but kept cool.
He not only got out of a bunker in style but even had a decent shot at a birdie that missed by inches.
Taking just a couple of seconds to compose himself, he then tapped in for par as if he was a seasoned pro.
Bale is partnering Californian Joseph Bramlett, 34, who has a Fedex Cup ranking of 64.
Their group includes Yahoo Founder Jerry Lang and Swedish pro David Lingmerth, 35, at 4:30pm GMT on Thursday February 2 on the Spyglass Hill course.
The tournament switches to the Monterey Peninsula course on Friday and Pebble Beach the following day.
Leading professionals have been praising Bale's game over the past month
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and World No3 Jon Rahm have led praise for Bale's talent in the past month.
Rahm said: "I told Gareth, you can’t be so good at professional football and golf at the same time, it just doesn’t seem fair.”
