Peyton Manning tops opening drive in PGA Tour pro-am, fans let him hear it

Former NFL star and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning is a sports legend. Full stop. He earned his elite-quarterback status on the gridiron, but the two-time Super Bowl champion is a hell of a golfer, too.

You just wouldn’t know one of his swings at this week’s BMW Championship Pro-Am, where Manning opened the event in disastrous, if also hilarious, fashion.

Even before he retired with a Super Bowl trophy in his hands, Manning was a PGA Tour pro-am regular. He’s also made an appearance one of The Match events, the made-for-TV golf exhibition pitting star athletes and pro golfers against each other.

News

Manning’s handicap reportedly bounces around the single digits, with his index going as low as 4.0.

To reach those kind of heights as a golfer, you need to know how to find the fairway off the tee, something Manning is exceptional at…usually. That was not the case at Castle Pines Golf Club on Wednesday.

Setting up on the elevated 1st tee, Manning was surrounded by fans eager to see just how good his game was. Always the entertainer, Manning gave his supporters a show, just not the one they likely expected.

Manning took a swipe at his ball, and then quickly dropped one hand of his driver grip in the follow-through, a classic sign of a poor shot. And it was. With dozens of fans watching closely, Manning topped his drive and sent it careening short and left.

Check the shot out below.

Initially an awkward silence blanketed the area surrounding the tee, but the star quarterback quickly lightened the mood with a quip.

“Anyone see where that went?”

The one-liner incited an uproar of laughter among the fans who witnessed it, and as Manning started walking off the tee, they added a quip of their own, joining in a loud chant of “one of us” in a good-natured jab at Manning.

With the pro-am over, Manning will have to sit back and watch as the top-50 players on the PGA Tour give it their all to claim the $4 million prize, hopefully without any topped drives.

Kevin Cunningham

Golf.com Editor

As managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps keep GOLF.com humming outside the news-breaking stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the tech team in the development of new products and innovative ways to deliver an engaging site to our audience.