Former Duke basketball star shows off Tiger-like golf swing

A Duke basketball product in the NBA seems to be eyeing a long drive title.

Want to meet former Duke basketball sensation Jayson Tatum?

Check the driving range.

On Sunday, Chris Grenham of Forbes Sports tweeted a video (below) of the Boston Celtics franchise player, who claims to have hit the links for the first time only five months ago, smashing a golf ball a reported 319 yards, 286 of which came through the air.

ALSO READ: Top 10 NBA Blue Devils of all time

To get an idea of just how far that is, consider that Tiger Woods is averaging 318.8 yards on his drives thus far in the current PGA Tour season. Heck, the Tour average right now is only 304.4 yards.

Granted, though there doesn’t appear to be much wind at the moment of Tatum’s swing, the shot does appear to benefit just a tad from a slight downhill slope. Nevertheless, as you can judge for yourself, his mechanics — not to mention the results — are quite impressive for a full-time baller:

Apparently, the above drive is neither a fluke nor Tatum’s all-time record. Based on a follow-up tweet from Grenham a few days later (below), one could deduce that the 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward must be gearing up for either a future World Long Drive Championship or a spot on the Champions Tour after his hoops career is behind him.

Because according to golf coach Dan Boisvert — yes, the 2020 NBA All-Star should have no problem affording his services — Tatum blasted a golf ball 346 yards (332 in the air) on Tuesday with a clubhead speed of 127.4 miles per hour.

Plus, from the looks of the shot chart that Boisvert included, not only is Tatum now within a football field of being able to drive the ball a quarter of a mile, but the one-and-done Blue Devil (2016-17) also has a penchant for keeping the ball in the fairway.

The Duke basketball star should star in the NBA for at least another decade

There’s no word on what Tatum’s golf scorecards look like these days. As for his hardwood stats, well, they speak for themselves.

Across the 2019-20 regular season — his third year in the league — Tatum averaged a team-high 23.4 points to go along with 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks while shooting 45.0 percent from the field, including a first-rate 40.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Then in the playoffs, which included several clutch performances from the St. Louis native yet ultimately came to an end for the Celtics against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, Tatum’s averages were even more stellar for a mere 22-year-old: 25.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists.

Nope, no reason to affix golf spikes to all his sneakers just yet.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more on Jayson Tatum in addition to other news and views regarding all things Duke basketball.