Gareth Bale shot a combined 65 with partner Joseph Bramlett in his PGA Tour debut in the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM in California.
The former Wales captain, who retired from football after the Qatar World Cup, sits in 18th place on the amateur leaderboard after his first round at the Spyglass Hill course.
Topping the amateur leaderboard after round one is Thomas Dundon.
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Bale shook off the first tee jitters to begin his round with an impressive drive to split the fairway.
His miraculous recovery shot on the second hole on his way to making Par was undoubtedly the highlight of the round. Out of position beyond the cart path, the former Real Madrid man played a lovely bump-and-run into the slope to run the ball up close to the hole before tapping in for a simple Par.
"It was a great shot," said Bale, who only retired from football in early January.
"I tried to play it into the bank and hope for the best, as all amateur golfers would.
"It was nice to see it roll up nice and close. I finished it off nicely as well. I can't really say much more."
Despite making a living playing in front of thousands of people on a weekly basis, Bale admits that he felt the nerves before teeing off on Thursday.
"I think every amateur will tell you that," he said. "Even if we are used to playing in front of 80,000 or more on live TV it's a completely different sport.
"It's a good experience but luckily I hit one of my best shots down the first fairway."
An avid golfer, a trait which sometimes drew the ire of the Real Madrid fans, Bale has a handicap of two and has spoken at length about his love for the sport in the past.
Bale is just one of over a hundred celebrities to take part in the competition. After three rounds of play, the top 25 celebrities will progress to the final round of the event at the Pebble Beach pro links course on Sunday.
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