Former Coventry City player/manager Gordon Strachan and former City manager Chris Coleman were on the beaten side in the Qatar Pro Am Masters in a golf and football target challenge ahead of this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.
The Scotland and Wales managers along with Andy Gray took on a ‘Qatar Masters’ team of Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, at the new QAFCO Family Zone in a competition which featured three different targets, each offering 10, 20 and 50 points depending on accuracy. Every player first kicked a tennis ball at the target and after all six players had a shot, they each used a plastic golf club to chip the ball at the target from a longer distance.
Surprisingly, three of the world’s best golfers were initially better at the kicking than the golf – all are capable footballers – but two showed their short-game prowess at the crucial time, with first Martin Kaymer and then Sergio Garcia each nailing 50 points with their final golf shots to secure victory.
“That was good fun,” said Stenson, the World No. 3 and winner of last year’s Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup. “I probably overachieved on the football part. I got a 50 on my first kick, but I guess the golf part was a little bit tougher. It took a little time to get used to the club and I never got used to it. Luckily the boys came good at the end.”
Strachan, the current Scotland manager, said the shootout brought back memories of his own penalty-taking days and said: The golfers can handle the pressure and that’s why they’re at the top of their game. They’re Ryder Cup players and when it comes to pressure, that’s nothing to them.
“However, I can’t handle the pressure any more. The kicks and chips before were okay, but when it came to the crucial one and we needed a 50, I just collapsed. That sums up my golf for the day. I thought once I got off the golf course, things would get better, but they got worse,” .
“I have to say that Andy, Chris and myself really enjoyed that. We thought it was fun. We were out there practising for ages, even it proved a waste of time! But it was really good fun and that’s what you want. I think every kid can play a sport and it’s finding what you’re good at. Golf for me is the best sport of all.”
Strachan also teamed up with Gray and Coleman in the Pro-Am, playing with American star John Daly and Andy McCormick of United Through Golf was delighted to have six world-famous sportsmen help launch the initiative, saying. “I was really delighted with it. One of the great things about it was that the format, presenting golf in a really fun way, meant that everyone could enjoy it, all the way up to the world’s best players.
“That’s really what it’s about – playing golf in a fun way and helping promote the sport’s core values. It’s really encouraging to see top-class players and recreational players together, just having a good time. It’s about getting people together and enjoying the sport.”