Robert Gamez lists 'Going to Disney Parks' among his hobbies and interests
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PGA Tour pro hobbies and interests typically include 'hunting, fishing and all sports'. But not these 10 who stray just a little from the norm...

Delve into the PGA Tour pro hobbies and interests section on the tour's website, and stereotypically you’ll find an awful lot of “hunting, fishing and all sports”. Not from these 10 gentlemen though…

Kenny Perry

The Kentuckian who so nearly won the Masters in 2009 may come across as Mr Average, but beneath the visor and specs lurks a wilder side. Perry gets his kicks from Harley Davidsons and drag-racing.

Jonathan Byrd

The five-time tour winner and 2002 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year is the only player to list ‘hanging out with my wife at home’ as an interest. Sounds intriguing…

Jonathan Byrd includes spending time with wife Amanda among his hobbies

Jonathan Byrd includes spending time with wife Amanda among his hobbies

Robert Gamez

Going to Disney theme parks is one of Gamez’s interests, but presumably not when trying to save your card in the season’s Disney finale as the Las Vegas man invariably found himself doing as his main tour career wound down.

Todd Hamilton

Hamilton’s all-beige ensemble en route to victory at Troon in 2004 hints at a studious nature, so it’s no surprise to find that he’s an avid crossword puzzler.

Todd Hamilton is an avid crossword puzzler apparently

2004 Open Champion, Todd Hamilton, is an avid crossword puzzler apparently

Tim Clark

Tour pros do a lot of flying from tournament to tournament, but Clark takes it a stage further with a passion for remote-control planes. Remote-control golf balls might be more useful, of course…

Jesper Parnevik

You’ll need to get to the end of the eccentric Swede’s list before you find anything mentioned by any other tour pro - magic, vitamins, bridge, backgammon, yoga, yachting, tennis.

Jesper Parnevik's diverse interests include backgammon. magic, vitamins & yachting!

Jesper Parnevik's diverse interests include backgammon, magic, vitamins & yachting!

Steve Elkington

The 1995 USPGA champion is a talented artist who apparently fills his spare time drawing caricatures. Should spend more time doing that than upsetting people on Twitter, perhaps?

Pat Perez

That volatile temperament would be enough to wear anyone out, so it’s nice to see that Perez lists sleeping among his interests.

You'd need to sleep as much as Pat Perez too if you got this angry on the course

You'd need to sleep as much as Pat Perez too if you got this angry on the course

Jeff Sluman

The 1988 USPGA champion is the only tour pro to cite raising Akitas as a hobby – for those not up on their canines, that’s a large Japanese huskyesque dog.

Kirk Triplett

The man with the pork pie hat lists adoption as one of his interests having adopted two children himself and set up the Tour Fore Adoption programme.

 

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response