Dubai: Jimmy Bullard is looking to golf to replace the void left by football.
The 35-year-old former Wigan, Fulham and Hull midfielder turned professional last year after a knee injury cut short his football career, but he has since missed the cut in five appearances in golf’s third tier —
the PGA EuroPro Tour.
“I’d love to go down the running in a EuroPro Tour event and maybe compete in one,” Bullard told Gulf News. “If I could make a cut, be in the last three or four groups and have all the cameras following me down the straight, I’d love it. That’s what I’m striving for, a bit of buzz.
“I give it the big-all to my mates and say I’ve been professional in two sports, how many was you pro in? But in truth, it isn’t hard to turn professional in golf, you just sign a bit of paper.”
Bullard admits he’s got a long way to go before he reaches the same heights in golf as he did in football, however.
“I’m so far off the European Tour proper, I’m literally third tier, you’ve got the EuroPro, Challenge Tour and the main European Tour.
“First thing’s first, I’ve got to make a cut on the EuroPro Tour fist. But what a life it would be to travel the world playing golf, I’d love it.
“I’m not good enough yet, nowhere near it. It surprised me how good these [players] were, I maybe underestimated it a bit.”
Bullard shot 79 and 77 at Concra Wood in Ireland last week.
“It was rock hard, rough up to your hips and dead bouncy, before you know it you’re well over [par]. Someone shot seven under over 18 holes and I just couldn’t visualise half that out there, I’m thinking: ‘We’re in trouble here’. The others said: ‘Don’t worry, Jimmy, we can’t see it either,’ so it does makes you feel a little bit better.
“The same bloke shot six over the week before, so maybe it’s just his week, I’m thinking: ‘I can have that about me, I should keep at it,’ that’s what’s going on in my mind, keep at it and see where it gets you. But I’ve really got to knuckle down, keep at it and work hard, if I want to do anything, that’s for sure.”
