Legendary football manager Pep Guardiola was in action at the Pro-Am event ahead of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
The former Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach joined his friend Tommy Fleetwood in the event.
Guardiola’s friendship with Fleetwood began on a golf course in 2018 after the English golfer was invited to Sandiway Golf Club in Cheshire for a round to celebrate his first Premier League title with Man City.
But Fleetwood joked that Guardiola, who went on to win five more Premier League titles at Man City, never shared his football secrets with him.
“He answers some of my questions now, which is nice,” said Fleetwood.
“Now that he’s not completely focused on what he’s doing, that’s been a little treat.
“He’s really passionate about the game and he loves it. We talk about it a lot. He doesn’t listen to me and then blames me when it goes wrong!
“He’s loving his golf at the moment. He’s got a bit more time on his hands, and I think messing around on a golf course is one of his favourite things to do.”
But the Englishman could not stop admiring Guardiola’s meticulous preparations in training.
“Obviously he’s one of the best of all time at what he does,” said Fleetwood. “I’m just very lucky to have a great mind like his around me, to be able to pick his brains and try to pick things up.”
The 35-year-old was also impressed with Guardiola’s swing.
“He swings it great. He’s just like every other golfer. He doesn’t like his own swing and he’s always working on it, but we’re all the same,” he said.
Now Fleetwood will turn his focus to the Abu Dhabi Championship.
The UAE-based golfer is a two-time champion in the capital, having won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
He came tantalisingly close to adding one more Abu Dhabi trophy last year, going down in a play-off against Aaron Rai at Yas Links.
Source: Khaleej Times