What does the future hold for Ashleigh Barty?
In many respects, Ashleigh Barty’s retirement announcement didn’t come as a huge shock. It is, of course, hard to imagine what life will be like on the WTA Tour with Barty gone, but the 25-year-old did previously leave the sport to play professional cricket in the Big Bash League during 2015. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that this is an exceptionally talented individual and it was hard to shake the feeling that Barty may once again decide to try her hand at another sporting endeavour.
That day has now come, although the world is waiting impatiently to find out what Barty will turn her attention to next. The growing expectation, however, is that Barty will announce that she intends on worming her way into the world of professional golf. It is a scenario that is entirely possible as Barty currently holds a golf handicap of 3.9. For context, a brief look at the latest golf odds for upcoming tournaments in 2022 would highlight the globe’s best players, who all have handicaps of anywhere between +4 to +6.
Take a player like Jon Rahm for example, who is the favourite to win the Masters at odds of 8/1. Rahm has recently been playing off an eye-watering handicap of +9.5 but strictly speaking, Barty would only really need to clip a few shots off her handicap to realistically be able to compete in the world of professional golf.
I’m so proud to be an Aussie 💙 pic.twitter.com/ELbsqR4Vv8
— Ash Barty (@ashbarty) January 29, 2022
Now, when you take into account that Barty has managed to get within touching distance of a professional handicap whilst her day job has been full-time tennis, then you can all of a sudden see why most people expect her to make the transition to a career in golf with relative ease.
Amusingly, another telling indication of Barty’s natural golfing ability came in 2019 when she was asked to help advertise the President’s Cup, which was being held in Australia. It was a relaxed event on the banks of the Yarra River that Barty was asked to attend, but none other than Tiger Woods was watching on when she got there. Barty’s swing was so silky during the promo that Woods immediately said: “She’s got a great swing, are you kidding me?”
If Ash Barty can hit a wedge this smooth in front of Ernie Els and Tiger Woods, who were standing next to her here in Melbourne during the 2019 Presidents Cup, then she can win a Wimbledon final. Arguably more pressure here – arguably #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/BI5YDrsTjK
— Evin Priest (@EvinPriest) July 10, 2021
It goes without saying but impressing arguably the greatest golfer of all time is perhaps the only nudge that anyone needs when considering how wise it is for them to swap professional tennis for golf, and here we are three years later, with the 25-year-old weighing up her options.
In reality, the 2022 Australian Open winner doesn’t have anything to lose by pursuing a career in golf given that she has previously shown how capable she is of successfully returning to tennis if her new ventures don’t quite give her the same level of fulfilment.
Whatever ends up happening, the sporting world can be certain of one thing and that is this phenomenal Australian is likely to appear on our TV screens again sooner rather than later.
