Celebrities, they’re just like us! Especially when it comes to being embarrassed about the state of their golf game — something we can all relate to.
Turns out, even rap superstar Macklemore has a pretty hilarious story about struggling with his game during his first appearance at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Macklemore was still a relatively new golfer at the time, having only picked up the game in 2018, and he relived the cringe-worthy experience on this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon.
“I was a year in when I first played, and we had our practice round,” Macklemore began. “And I was shooting kind of in like, the high 80s, low 90s at the time. And I get out there to Spyglass, and I’m playing kind of like, bogey golf. And I get a triple on 1.”
Macklemore said the greens were the fastest he’d ever played on, and it was tough to adjust.
“I had never played like that before,” he said. “I can’t put backspin on the ball. Shortly after, I completely lost my irons. No clue how to hit an iron all the sudden. The mechanics just broke down. And Jason Day was behind us, and we had a slower player in front of us. And these guys are just hitting multiple balls, it’s just a practice round. And I’m like, please don’t join us, please don’t join us. Please don’t see this happening.
“And I’m on a par 3, I forget, somewhere on the back, maybe like 11, 12, and just sliced — shanked — two 5-irons completely out of bounds,” he continued. “Jason Day’s right there watching the whole thing. And he eventually ended up catching up to me and being like, hey, mind if we join? And I’m just like, this is literally my worst nightmare right now. I am so embarrassed.”
Macklemore said Day couldn’t be nicer, and tried to help him get his game back on track.
“I don’t think I really figured it out that day, or that week,” Macklemore said. “But it’s been really cool to play with some of the pros, and see how down to earth they are.”
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.