Tennis icon Andy Murray is amongst the prominent figures set to compete in the Sunningdale Foursomes. While he is relatively new to the golf circuit, the Scot’s playing partner at the tournament has courted controversy with some of his behaviour both on and off the course. Murray has embraced golf enthusiastically since calling time on his tennis career and has teamed up with Eddie Pepperell at Sunningdale in Surrey. The duo were also paired together at last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where they secured a tied 18th-place finish at the Pro-Am competition.

Former Wales international footballer Gareth Bale is another celebrity joining established professionals, partnering with Matthew Wylie at Sunningdale for a second time. Murray’s playing companion, however, has hit headlines for a variety of reasons, not all of them good. Pepperell previously received a suspension from his home venue, Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire, after damaging a green. He recounted his version of events to PING’s A Round with Radar following his six-month ban.

“It was the club championship, I think it was the second round,” Pepperell said. “It became a 54-hole [tournament], Green course, Blue course, Red course.

“This was the second day and I was doing quite well but struggling on the green, which was standard for me at Frilford. I had like a four-foot birdie putt and missed it and the red steam… The red mist descended and I gave it one of those,” he continued, before pretending to slam his putter into the ground.

“I think I’d only done it six or seven times in my life up to that point, but this time I got caught. I did do a great reparation job, I will say. I repaired it beautifully.

“You could barely see what had happened afterwards, but the group behind did come and notice it and then they pulled it up and took a photo and made it look much worse than it was. I got six months for that.”

Pepperell also became embroiled in an online dispute with major winner and Ryder Cup star Bryson DeChambeau. The Englishman took exception to what he perceived as sluggish play from the American at the Northern Trust Open and voiced his frustrations.

“Just look at Tommy [Fleetwood] and Justin [Thomas], both looking completely bored,” Pepperell said. “Slow players do this to their playing partners, making the game less enjoyable. Problem is, the unaffected single-minded twit in this instance doesn’t care much for others.”

Those remarks didn’t sit too well with DeChambeau, who responded: “Eddie Pepperell, not fair to say. I would love to speak to him personally and talk about it.”

Pepperell expressed regret for the personal nature of his observations after learning of DeChambeau’s response. Regarding the ‘Twit’ remark, he added: “That was unnecessary and something I shouldn’t have said.”

This year’s Sunningdale Foursomes commenced on Tuesday and continues until Friday. The 2025 edition was claimed by David Corben and Harry Crockett, who narrowly defeated Monty Holcombe and Oscar Lent for the title.