Barty swaps clubs and wins golf tournament

Icon: enlarge

Has already been praised by Tiger Woods (r.) For her golf swing: Ashleigh Barty (l.)

Photo: 

SCOTT BARBOUR / imago images / AAP

Ashleigh Barty used her current tennis break to win a golf tournament.

The world number one won the championship of the Brookwater Golf Club near Brisbane in her native Australia - an amateur tournament of a high standard.

Barty thus underpinned her reputation as a sporting all-rounder.

In 2015 she took a break from tennis for personal reasons and played for one season in the professional cricket league WBBL at Brisbane Heat.

Barty is currently not participating in the important tennis tournaments due to the corona pandemic.

She skipped the US Open in New York because of the number of infections in the US, and she will not be defending her title at the French Open next week.

Barty does not want to travel to Europe and will probably not return to the WTA tour until next year.

Barty has numerous connections with golf.

Her father once played as an amateur for Australia, and she met her friend Garry Kissick while playing golf.

Barty's handicap is now 3.9, and before the 2020 Presidents Cup in Melbourne even superstar Tiger Woods praised her "good shot".

On the par-72 course in Brookwater, Barty qualified for the semi-finals in match play mode with a 77 and an 80 round.

The winner of the men's competition, Louis Dobbelaar, trusts her with a professional career with appropriate training: "She has all stroke options," Dobelaar told the AAP news agency.

"If she gets it on her mind, she could do it."

Icon: The mirror

krä / sid