He’s best known for terrorising giving fullbacks nightmares on the football pitch, but David Ginola showed he’s also handy on the fairways as he played in the Pro-Am at the Cannes Mougins Masters.
The former French international is a close friend of European Senior Tour professional Marc Farry, who co-organised the tournament at Cannes Mougins and accepted his invited to join the inaugural event.
Ginola, who is a five-handicapper, played alongside former Ryder Cup player Gordon J Brand in the tournament and hopes the Pro-Am event can grow over the coming years.
“I’m good friends with Marc but also with a lot of the English players so it has been a good week,” he said. “You always learn something playing alongside a professional and I did that with Gordon.
“I think this event has been a great start and in the future it will be a tournament that the Senior Tour players will love to play. Cannes Mougins is a great place with great scenery. And you are living in Cannes for a weekend!”
The former PSG, Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton player was an interested spectator at last week’s Ryder Cup and, as well as being an ambassador for England’s 2018 football World Cup bid, he is backing his country’s own quest to host golf’s premiere team competition in eight years time.
“The Ryder Cup was fantastic,” he said. “Celtic Manor hosted it perfectly and it was amazing to see the Europeans win. The atmosphere really impressed me. I didn’t expect so much passion.
“I’m an ambassador for the French Ryder Cup bid. We have a good set up and the Golf National is the perfect course to host The Ryder Cup but we are competing with great countries so we will have to wait to see.
“It would be a big boost for golf and sport in general in France. It would hopefully make more people take up the sport and bring attention to it.”
