Michael Jordan has always protected his home turf. The five-time league MVP was known for playing well on his home court, especially while leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles.
And according to PGA Tour star Rickie Fowler, MJ has continued that trend in basketball retirement — now on his golf course. Fowler appeared on the Subpar podcast with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz and said that since the 2019 opening of Jordan’s exclusive golf course, Grove XXIII, in Hobe Sound, Florida, MJ has again dominated at home, consistently parting opponents and their money.
So much so that the course has been bestowed an intriguing informal title.
“The nickname for it is ‘Slaughterhouse 23’,” Fowler said.
“It’s his golf course, so it’s set up very well for him … It’s almost the shorter you hit it, the wider it is. The tees and pins are done every day, so the golf course basically sets up around him — they can play as long as you want but they set the back tees at roughly, you know, 7,000 to 7,100 (yards) and MJ plays the back tees wherever they set them.”
According to Fowler, Jordan can hit driver on nearly all the par 4s and par 5s at The Grove, and since he gets a stroke on 10 holes from Fowler, the pressure is on the PGA star.
“If I want to hit driver, I have to kind of put it into a little bit of a tighter spot,” Fowler said. “I can obviously play back if I want, but that becomes a little bit of a disadvantage, especially if it’s a hole where he’s getting a stroke. He’s great with wedges in his hands, around the greens, and as a bunker player. He’ll putt anyone straight up.
“If I’m giving him a shot, I can’t then play from the same spot he is when he’s laying zero.”
Jordan is notorious for verbally badgering PGA Tour players when he plays them for money.
Dominic Bozzelli, for example, has played about 100 rounds of golf with Jordan and said he has routinely been heckled and chided by the ultra-competitive Basketball Hall of Famer.
“He’ll start jabbing at me early,” Bozzelli said. “If I hit a bad drive he’ll say something like, ‘That’s why you’re not playing the major this week.’ Or stuff like that. He keeps ribbing me. You either sink or swim there; he makes you do something about it, makes you dig your heels in. If that’s going to rattle you then you shouldn’t be playing pro sports anyway, but that’s just his way of telling you how to go after your weaknesses. You’re either going to keep hearing it from him or you do something about it. It’s fun.”
And just what kind of numbers is MJ putting up these days?
“I’m not sure when the last time he broke 70 was, but I mean he can shoot anywhere from … you know, 71 to 74,” Fowler said. “On the high end, he’s gonna shoot maybe, you know, low 80s.”
