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Professional golfers hands are EVERYTHING. Of course other body parts matter (See: Tiger’s back), but if you can’t hold the club, you really can’t play. In fact, when I was a kid, I once heard a rumor about a PGA Tour player (I won’t name names since it is a rumor) who wouldn’t shake hands with strangers, because he was worried that someone could intentionally or unintentionally hurt his precious digits. Makes sense. We’ve all seen Happy Gilmore, and we all know what could happen when a crazy fan attacks you.
Anyway, for as much as golfers protect their hands, part of the deal of getting good at golf is beating balls. Lots of balls. For European Tour pro Alex Noren, he beat so many balls during a long practice session, the day before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, that his hands looked like a rower’s hands. And if you have ever seen a rower’s hands, you would immediately ask why anyone would ever want to row a fucking boat for sport.
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This #ETPhotoOfTheYear image was taken by @kristoffer_kotte_broberg of fellow Swede Alex Noren’s hands after a particularly long practice session, the day before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Noren is known as one of the hardest workers on Tour and has said before that he now often wears two gloves during practice to protect his hands from the effects of hitting hundreds of shots in a day.
My hands hurt just from looking at this photo. Hopefully Noren’s loved ones buy him a few bottles of Jergens for the holiday. Or maybe a belt sander to grind that shit down.