Gareth Bale: Wales football great becomes golf game character

Gareth Bale's love of golf was well known during his football career

Gareth Bale has become a playable character in a golf video game.

The Wales great was regularly rated as one of the best players in the Fifa franchise and starred on the cover of its 2014 football game alongside Lionel Messi.

He has now been transformed into a player on the golf game PGA Tour 2K23.

Bale, 34, shared a clip of his image being scanned for the game - which includes his custom-designed course, The Elevens Club.

"I am Gareth Bale," he said in the video. "I'm here getting scanned in PGA Tour 2K23."

Bale spearheaded Wales' run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and played in the nation's first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022 before retiring from football in January 2023.

The former Wales captain recently played alongside Rory McIlroy at the BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am and has regularly spoken about his love of golf.

However, during the forward's time at Real Madrid he was accused of prioritising the sport over his duties with the Spanish club.

Speaking in 2019, former Real Madrid forward Predrag Mijatovic said: "The first thing he (Bale) thinks about is Wales, then golf and after that, Real Madrid."

It prompted Wales fans to sing "Wales, golf, Madrid" in tribute to their talisman.

Bale - alongside his team-mates - celebrated with a Wales flag that featured the chant following his country's 2-0 win over Hungary in November 2019, a result that secured Euro 2020 qualification.

His tally of 111 caps and 41 goals are both records for the Wales men's side.