Phelps shy of playing golf in Public

September 6, 2013. Believe it or not, but its true, the most decorated Olympian in history, with 18 gold medals and 22 in total, swimming legend Michael Phelps too gets nervous when he plays golf in front of a crowd.

“I’ve started to relax a little more in front of a crowd when playing. At the beginning, I didn’t like it when people watched me play, but I have started to tune it out and try to remember some of the things I learned on the Haney project,” the swimmer says.

Omega’s brand ambassador, Phelps joined defending Richie Ramsay in the Pro-Am ahead of this week’s Omega European Masters as he tries to better his golfing skills.

[highlight] At the beginning, I didn’t like it when people watched me play, but I have started to tune it out and try to remember some of the things I learned on the Haney project [/highlight]

While it is obvious that his comfort in diving into a pool has no match to teeing it up amongst The European Tour’s finest, Phelps is far from a fish out of water on the golf course.

The last time he played in a European Tour event, the 28 year old holed a monster 150ft putt at Kings barns in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, believed to be the longest putt ever televised.

“I should have retired after I made that putt,” he joked. “It’s never going to happen again! I got super lucky and one of the guys who is playing today, Paul Casey, I played with then. Paul Casey. I’m looking forward to seeing him throughout the week. Hopefully I can just go out and hit as many good shots as I can.”

Since then he has starred on The Haney Project, a Golf Channel show aimed at helping him with his golf game, and last week he shot his lowest nine-hole total of 41 around Caves Valley Country Club in Baltimore.

As a 23-handicapper, Phelps is striving for consistency above anything else, but for a man used to the adrenaline rush of Olympic glory, repeating mammoth putts like his record-breaking effort in Scotland last year also holds its appeal.