After experiencing the thrills of a lifetime when he threw out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game and flipped the coin in a pre-season warmup for the New England Patriots, PGA champ and New England native Keegan Bradley may have his sights set on banking home a three-pointer at halftime of a Boston Celtics tilt.
“good to hear your golf game is staying sharp,” Bradley tweeted to Celtics captain Paul Pierce (aka “The Truth”) on Monday. “Let’s t it up kid!! #celtics #obsession #mvp”
Bradley, a Boston homer who tweeted his dismay when his beloved Sox coughed up their chances for a post-season berth, was no doubt responding to a Twitter blast from Pierce, in which the NBA All-Star boasted about his golf game.
“don’t mean to brag,” tweeted Pierce on Monday, “but I have to say my golf game is gettin pretty solid.”
It seems Pierce’s teammate, renowned low-handicapper Ray Allen, is not the only Celt to take to the links. The 33-year-old Pierce — who may not see the inside of Boston Garden this season unless the league ends its three-month player lockout — blogged that he was getting his game in shape to tee it up with Bradley and the rest of the pros at next year’s Deutsche Bank Championship.
“I feel lucky that I got to play so much this summer, hit a lot of balls, and check out a few different courses,” Pierce typed. “Pretty soon I’ll be ready to get into some live competition like [NBA Hall of Famer Charles] Barkley and [last week’s PGA Tour tournament host] Justin Timberlake.
“And who knows,” Pierce added, “maybe next year you’ll see me go stroke for stroke with the pros at the DBC.”
Pierce rhapsodized about the serenity of golf and the benefits it offers.
“I enjoy the game — it’s relaxing and gets me to loosen up. There’s something about being outdoors — the quiet around you, taking it at your own speed,” Pierce wrote. “golf is easy on the body, and still a great form of exercise. It’s one of those things that you can do from age 5 to 85 — or at least I’m plannin on it.”
While Pierce encouraged kids to take up golf for fun and health (“After 18 holes of walking the course, I doubt anyone is sayin they’re not tired….and you’ll feel it in your shoulders the next day, too), the Celtics champ assured fans he was not about to give up his day job.
“Sometimes it’s a nice break from four intense quarters of ball at the Garden, but we all know I would never change my job for anything in the world,” Pierce said. “I do love golf, but ya’ll know my calling is basketball….So while golf is a nice break sometimes, hoops will always be my number one.”
Should Pierce take Bradley up on his invitation to join him and Pats QB Tom Brady on the tee, the two-time tour victor would still have room for one more in his foursome. We hear that Marc Savard of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins is a scratch golfer.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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