Eric Church probably would have preferred for some of these golf shots to not be seen by the masses.
For those that might not be tapped into the golf world, this past week was the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The annual tournament – which sees professional golfers play alongside amateur golfers that just so happen to be celebrities and former athletes – is played at the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
Ask any golfer that you know… it’s a bucket list course (albeit expensive at $675 per golfer, it’s open to the public), and a great venue for a tournament such as this one. It also features one of the most breathtaking Par 3’s in all of golf:
The field of 80 professional golfers play Thursday through Sunday, while the 80 amateurs conclude their play after teeing it up on Thursday and Friday. Professional golfer Rory McIlroy won the event with a score of 21-under par, and he hit some unreal drives on his way to victory.
Like this tee shot that featured a line only a mad man would take on:
What trees? 😳@McIlroyRory takes a ridiculous line on No. 14 @ATTProAm.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/S2tyzv5Y3l
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2025
That’s a beautiful, majestic, awe-inspiring golf shot. Now get ready to see some really bad ones.
The PGA Tour obviously made sure to highlight all of the best shots from the Pebble Beach Pro Am. They also excitedly shared some of the not-so-good golfing that took place on the amateur side of the tournament. One featured group of amateurs was the most random pairing you could ever imagine.
Strangely enough, it brought together two of my favorite people of all time.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Pau Gasol was paired up with country music superstar Eric Church. I’m trying to not make this story about me (I apologize), but for those keeping score at home, that’s one of my all-time favorite basketball players in the same group as one of my all-time favorite country music artists. Enough about me though… let’s get to how Gasol and Church played.
First off, Eric Church isn’t the only country music artist that likes to hit the links. Darius Rucker, Jake Owen and Jason Aldean are just a few names from the country world that enjoy hitting the little white golf ball around. But it appears that Church was the only country star to tee it up at this year’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
And though “Chief” had a number of good shots, it appears that he struggled to keep it in the short grass based upon this video below. The PGA Tour shared a highlight (?) reel of Pau and Eric playing together, and I’m going to blame the tour for making Church look bad. They included one long putt that the “Springsteen” singer holed, but otherwise, it made it seem as though the country singer really struggled to get around the course.
The video even showed one moment where Eric Church nearly hit Pau Gasol with his golf shot. He yelled “Heads up Pau” after he sent his golf ball rocketing out of the rough and further up the fairway, and after his ball came to a stop, Church provided this hilarious line:
“If you can’t beat em’, kill em’.”
Pau Gasol and Eric Church teed it up in the same group at last week's @ATTProAm.
The vibes were GREAT. pic.twitter.com/nlq2db44U0— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2025
