Charles Barkley’s Golf Comeback: A Historic Sports Achievement

Don’t let Chuck get hot! It’s surprising to even think about it. Charles Barkley, despite working with Tiger Woods’ longtime swing coach Hank Haney, used to have an absurd, herky-jerky swing on the golf course where he couldn’t get through the ball properly. Barkley struggled with a mental block that disrupted his transition from backswing to downswing. He claimed he could strike the ball fine on the driving range, but facing the links was a different story. All the Bob Rotella books in the world couldn’t seem to fix this problem.

In recent years, he has shown significant improvement. During a 2021 Champions Tour event in Alabama, Barkley’s “massive improvement” was evident, even though his performance included hitting one drive to an unclear destination, mashing a punch shot from the woods, keeping a bunker shot just on the green, and missing the green with his tee shot to a par 3.

Improvements were clear, but doubts remained about his ability to score well or hit quality iron shots consistently. Recently though, Barkley has proven doubters wrong. At the American Century Championship, where he usually finishes at the bottom, he put on an impressive display that surprised many.

One particularly striking shot drew attention and admiration for Barkley. Despite his past struggles, he’s now showing marked improvement, crucially putting together respectable scores. In Friday’s first round, he shot 12-over 84, and followed it up with a 5-over 41 on Saturday, showcasing his developing skillset.

Barkley plans to retire at the end of the next NBA season amid talks of TNT potentially losing “Inside the NBA.” However, this would give him more time to work on his golf game. He has shown he can play legitimately, even contributing some entertaining moments at the American Century Championship.

You can catch the remaining American Century Championship action on NBC and Peacock. The event features a star-studded lineup including Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Travis Kelce, Steph Curry, and more. The second-round action and leaderboard are worth checking out.

Additionally, another former NBA star, Jalen Rose, has taken over Barkley’s long-held title for “Worst Swing By An Ex-NBA Player,” which adds a humorous angle to the event.

Source: Particle News