Philipp Kohlschreiber on golf: "A sport that seems easy, but is exasperating"

Philipp Kohlschreiber may have ended his professional career, but he still swings a racket. Instead of a tennis racket, however, the 41-year-old from Augsburg now often takes a golf club to the ball. His teacher is YouTube, his handicap is in single figures and he would love to play a round with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

However, the beginnings of his golfing life did not indicate that he would one day develop a great passion for the sport. "I was on the golf course 20 years ago with my tennis coach at the time," says the eight-time ATP Tour winner. But it took almost 15 years before he was really infected by the virus. "I started playing a lot shortly before corona, around 2018, 2019."

Philipp Kohlschreiber on his handicap

"Kohli" has already played his handicap down quite a bit. "It should be 6.9," he guesses. "I haven't played a tournament for a long time. It's dropped a bit, but it's still in single figures, which is okay for what you play." But more importantly, he says: "You can have a lot of fun on the course with me."

The fact that he is self-taught is not a problem, but he is slowly reaching his limits, Kohlschreiber reports: "I actually taught myself everything via YouTube. I'm doing quite well with it, but it's clear that it's time to work with a coach." He has actually already played good scores and almost had a Par round. "In Munich-Eichenried, I once played three over from the white. I missed a Birdie Putt on the 16th, but I was still at even Par," he laughs. Just golf. And Kohlschreiber can also assess that well. "The round was the best, but you have to say it's not realistic, it was just a cream day."

Healthy expectations and nice people

With these healthy expectations, Kohlschreiber has a lot of fun playing golf. Scores are not the most important thing. It's much nicer that the sport brings so many different people together. "You can play against anyone," Kohlschreiber emphasizes. "The handicap decides who is ahead or has a shot where. You can compete with young and old, good and bad. Everyone can play together." and he highlights another characteristic: "When I was an active professional, the positive thing was of course that you can hardly get injured in golf. But you still have an incredible challenge. It's a sport that actually seems incredibly easy for a tennis player at first, because the ball is at rest, but then it's exasperating again." But when the golf ball flies "250 meters towards the flag, those are moments when you can be incredibly happy."

Golf makes you humble, who doesn't know that? And so Kohlschreiber also knows what he likes about his hobby. "I've met a lot of nice people and that's actually what makes the sport bring different characters together." If he could choose, he would like to bring two of the most successful golfers of all time together to play a round with them. "I think a lot of people say that. Tiger Woods would certainly be great, or Rory McIlroy. Being up close to them live is another wow effect."