Ash Barty is swapping tennis rackets for golf clubs.
The former tennis world number one has added more fuel to speculation that her post-retirement sporting career will focus majorly on golf by signing up for a series of exhibition tournaments featuring 23 other celebrities from the world of sport.
Barty, who retired at the age of 25 last month, will represent the rest of the world team captained by Ernie Els against a United States team led by another major winner, Fred Couples.
The first event in the Icons Series will take place at Liberty National in New Jersey in June with further tournaments planned for Europe, Asia, and Barty’s native Australia.
Among the others involved in the series are football’s Pep Guardiola and Harry Kane, multiple Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, arguably the best boxer in the world Canelo Alvarez, and former boxing great Oscar De La Hoya as well as American football’s Ben Roethlisberger.
Ash Barty, who won three Grand Slam titles over her tennis career, holds a handicap of four at her golf club in Queensland and is engaged to a trainee professional.
Having tried her hand at a varitey of sports including cricket, Golf Hall of Famer and compatriot Karrie Webb said last month that Barty had the significant talent to be an amateur golf champion of Australia one day.
Her post-retirement career shows no signs of slowing down with the Australian also set to release a series of children’s books later this year.
