Bale Becomes Playable Character in Golf Video Game

Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Bale Becomes Playable Character in Golf Video Game

Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - European Tour - BMW PGA Championship - Wentworth, Virginia Water, Britain - September 14, 2023 Former footballer Gareth Bale is seen during the first round Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/file photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Gareth Bale's love for golf has been well-documented and the former Real Madrid and Wales forward has swapped the pitch for the green after becoming a playable character in the PGA Tour 2K23 video game.

Bale, 34, made his PGA Tour debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February after calling time on his glittering soccer career at the start of the year. He also teed off alongside Rory McIlroy at this week's BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am.

His passion for the sport often led to criticism while he was in Madrid, especially in 2019 after he celebrated with a Welsh flag which read: "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order."

The former Wales captain, who featured on the cover of Electronic Arts' FIFA 14 video game alongside Lionel Messi, has now been added to PGA Tour 2K23, which includes a course custom-designed by him.

"I'm Gareth Bale. I'm here getting scanned in PGA Tour 2K23," he said in a video shared on social media, Reuters reported

Bale played for Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur before joining Real in 2013 for a then-world record deal worth 100 million euros ($106.55 million), where he won five Champions League titles among several other major honours.

He led Wales to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and to their first World Cup since 1958 at last year's tournament in Qatar. Bale's tally of 111 caps and 41 international goals are both records for the Wales men's team.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.