Golf
NFL star, Detroiter Sauce Gardner has taken up golf, and PGA Tour pros dig it
Detroit — New golfers can go years before they break 100.
Then there’s Detroit football star Sauce Gardner, who took up the game seriously within the past few weeks — and has caught the attention of the PGA Tour pros in town for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Earlier this week, a reporter for the PGA Tour started showing players clips that Gardner had posted of his swing on X (formerly Twitter). All were impressed, and most couldn’t believe he had just picked up the game.
“I mean, if Sauce is just getting going … I like the possibilities,” said Rickie Fowler, the defending champion at the Rocket. “There’s a lot of good athletic moves and speed in there. A little work, watch out.”
Said Will Zalatoris: “I mean, he’s got some speed, for one. I mean, the dude’s an athlete, we know that, but this is … that’s pretty impressive. Clean up a little bit of the short game there and he’s going to be pretty good, pretty quick. All those football guys are freak athletes. I played with Calvin Johnson and Aidan Hutchinson on the (AREA 313 Celebrity Scramble), and those guys were silly good around the greens. That’s pretty impressive.”
Gardner, 23, of course has a day job. A Detroit King alum, he played college ball at Cincinnati before he was the No. 4 overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2022 NFL Draft. The cornerback was the 2022 defensive rookie of the year, and has been first-team All Pro and a Pro Bowl selection in each of his first two seasons.
But with NFL training camp set to start next month, Gardner is getting a few last licks in on the links.
Earlier this week, he posted a scorecard of what he said was his first time playing his own ball for 18 holes. Gardner shot a 96 at Forest Hill Field Club in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
“He doesn’t need any help from me,” said Chris Kirk, having another good week at the Rocket. “He’s a lot better than I was two weeks into playing golf. Just let him do his thing.”
Said Taylor Montgomery, another guy in the hunt at the halfway point at the Rocket: “How long has he played for? That’s crazy. Well, if he needs swing tips, I’d tell him to go to somebody else. … That’s awesome. That’s really cool.”
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
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