The chance to take part in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is the dream for any ameteur golfer.
And this was no different for actor Billy Murray, as he teamed up with Scottish pro Robert MacIntyre at the famous Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland on Thursday.
The tournament, which regularly sees stars paired up with professional golfers to play across three courses, kicked off on Thursday.
Bill, 75, a longtime golfer, was in high spirits as he shook hands with Robert after finishing the 18th hole of the course.
The Oscar nominee has also channelled his passion for the sport into a new BBC series, which will see him embark a road trip around Ireland visiting the country’s most famous golf courses.
Joined by the extended Murray family, celebrity friends, and long-time golfing companion Tom Coyne, Off Course captures candid, unscripted moments woven with the wit, warmth, and wonder of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Billy Murray, 75, showed off his golfing skills as he teamed up with Scottish pro Robert MacIntyre at the famous Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland on Thursday
The tournament, which regularly sees stars paired up with professional golfers to play across three courses, kicked off on Thursday
Bill said: ‘I started out caddying, and golf was the best education I ever received. Ireland feels like the right place to put all that to work.
‘They’ve got this wonderful word there, ”craic,” which means fun, but it means a lot of other things. A lot of good things. And this show will be about us finding it.’
Catherine Catton, Head of Factual Entertainment Commissioning and Events, says: ‘This is a series full of humour, heart and adventure, set against some of the most beautiful backdrops imaginable – and we can’t wait for audiences to come along for the ride with Bill.’
Eddie Doyle, Head of Content Commissioning, BBC Northern Ireland, says: ‘We’re thrilled that this series promises stunning scenery and beautiful golf courses, couple this with the wit and charm of Bill and his friends and the series promises to be joyful viewing for audiences.’
Earlier this year, Bill reflected on his 50-year career in the movie business, admitting fame ‘makes you do a lot of stupid things.’
The two-time Golden Globe winner opened up about his approach to fame when he was younger, admitting he ‘lost control for a year or two’.
The Lost In Translation actor – who shot to stardom in the 1970s – said while chatting to The Times: ‘You have to have an ego to work with. You need it to get the work done.
‘It’s not important to try to change your ego, or to keep it in check, or dial it down. What’s important is to watch it.’
The Oscar nominee has also channelled his passion for the sport into a new BBC series, which will see him embark a road trip around Ireland visiting the country’s most famous golf courses
Joined by the extended Murray family, celebrity friends, and long-time golfing companion Tom Coyne, Off Course sees Bill travel across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Earlier this year, Bill reflected on his 50-year career in the movie business, admitting fame ‘makes you do a lot of stupid things’
The star continued: ‘Your first brush with fame — it’s not like it got any bigger but you lose control for a year or two.
‘You make a lot of mistakes, you do a lot of stupid things and you allow people to fluff you up.’
His insightful interview comes after Bill opened up about the shocking sexual misconduct allegation that doomed his film Being Mortal from being released in 2022 and forever altered his public reputation.
In an interview with the New York Times over the weekend, the actor admitted that the incident still haunts him to this day — even as he remained defiant about the investigation’s outcome, which he said was not ‘justice.’
When asked if he thought about the incident while playing a man accused of inappropriate conduct in his new film The Friend, he replied, ‘I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened in Being Mortal.’
Bill was again swept up in controversy as he promoted the new film when he grabbed his co-star Naomi Watts and kissed her unprompted while both appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
In the new interview, he shared his recollection of the circumstances leading up to the complaint about his behavior on Being Mortal, which was to be the directorial debut of its star, Aziz Ansari, before it was shelved.
The Kingpin star noted that the film was shot at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and the cast and crew were ‘all wearing masks and we were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene.’
Before recounting his alleged behavior, he prefaced it by saying, ‘I dunno what prompted me to do it. It’s something that I had done to someone else before, and I thought it was funny, and every time it happened, it was funny.’
Bill explained that, while wearing a mask, he gave the unnamed female crew member — who was also masked — a kiss. ‘It wasn’t like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask.’
He added, ‘And she wasn’t a stranger,’ and he said the two were having lunch multiple times a week before the incident.
Bill, who described feeling ‘barbecued’ in the aftermath of the complaint against him, described interventions by HR and subsequent arbitration that he felt were prejudiced against him.
‘It turned out there were pre-existing conditions and all this kind of stuff,’ he said.
‘I’m like, what? How was anyone supposed to know anything like that? There was no conversation, there was nothing. There was no peacemaking, nothing.
‘It went to this lunatic arbitration, which, if anyone ever suggests you go to arbitration: Don’t do it. Never ever do it. Because you think it’s justice, and it isn’t,’ he continued.
The Riff Raff legend lambasted Disney’s HR department as being ‘more strident than some other countries’,’ and he called the decision not to complete the film a ‘great disappointment.
Bill reportedly paid a $100,000 settlement to the woman in 2022 at the conclusion of the investigation.
