Billy Connolly harbours secret dislike of 'joke' sport played by millions

17 October 2023 , 20:34

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Billy Connolly (Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for Channel 4)

Sir Billy Connolly has taken a swipe at golf, saying courses should be given to the homeless.

The Big Yin reckons the sport was never meant to be taken seriously and players should be “f***ed and burned”. The 80-year-old said: “Frankly, I’ve never understood golf or golfers. It seems to me when the Scots invented the game many years ago, it was a joke. ‘Eh, Jimmy... hit this wee ball made of feathers with this stick’.

“You’re taking the p***, right? And there was nothing in the rulebook about V-neck pullovers with wee lions on them and matching tartan trousers. Give golf courses to the homeless.” Sir Billy also admitted in new book Rambling Man that, despite mellowing since his Parkinson’s diagnosis, he still experiences rage.

Billy and Noel are both haters when it comes to golf (Getty Images)

And he told the Today programme he now walks with a stick. He said: “It’s a thing I just have to put up with. I have a good attitude to it. I say to the disease ‘I’ll give you a break if you give me a break’. We’re nice to each other.” He added: “I’m fuelled by anger. And coffee. I used to drink coffee before going on stage and it helped to rev me up.

"But I didn’t really need any help in that department. I get angry about anything that’s remotely unfair. It’s a great source of stage energy..” Billy’s rant comes a month after Oasis star Noel Gallagher vented about the sport.

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The 56-year-old rocker told a podcast that “golf is the death of everything”. He added: “When I hear people talking about f***ing golf, I want to f***ing kill them. I f***ing hate golf.”

Mark Jefferies