(Credits: Far Out / Focus Features)
Fri 7 November 2025 19:15, UK
It’s funny, the sort of reception golf has from those who view it from afar. Steeped in etiquette and elitism, it’s viewed as a stuffy hobby that is devoid of any real-life perspective, but when you strip that all away, it’s a sport that can be spiritual, inspiring and a community activity, the latter being the most important component.
You see, badgering a tiny white ball across miles of nature’s expanse, only to be consistently reminded how bad and incapable you are, has a way of teaching you wider life lessons. You’re taught to persevere despite the unrelenting challenges you face. You’re also taught to be honest with yourself and others, for anything different will be found out by the transparent handicap system. But, moreover, you’re taught the important lesson of humility and the strength in laughing at yourself, because, unless you’re a professional, there will undoubtedly be a time when you will embarrass yourself on the course.
Which is why it’s the perfect sport for someone like Bill Murray, whose riches allow him into the most elite country clubs of the world, where he can play the sport with the right open-minded and fun-loving attitude. But as much as I would be keen to promote that as an important aspect of the sport, there was once a time when he took that too far.
While playing in a pro-am tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, Murray did what most would probably do as well, which is take advantage of the complimentary bar, and that would have been fine given his expectancy for there to be a chauffeur service at such a prestigious event. But when there wasn’t, and rather than call a cab to the post-event party, he decided to take matters into his own hands and drive a golf cart there.
Assuming that the lack of requirement of a license to drive a cart of such nature would have provided a loophole for him to drink and drive, he cracked on and offered lifts to fellow golfers while he was at it. “I ended up stopping and dropping people off on the way like a bus. I had about six people in the thing, and I dropped them off one at a time, and as the last couple were getting out, who wished to be dropped off at a 7-Eleven. I didn’t know they had 7-Elevens in Stockholm,” explained. Murray
The convenience store ended up as his undoing, as it was there that the police rightly confronted a man driving a golf cart through a residential area.
The police “asked me to come over and they assumed that I was drunk and I explained to them that I was a golfer,” Murray told reporters, hoping that would be excuse enough, but the Swedish police insisted on a blood test once the actor refused the breathalyser. He was threatened with drunk driving charges and potentially a prison sentence, which knocked some sense into him, so after he signed a document admitting to being under the influence following the blood letting, he was released, and no charges were filed.
Related Topics
