Back in 2012, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, met an athlete whom he considered his idol – Michael Jordan. While Phelps spoke about Jordan being the ‘greatest’, he and the Chicago Bulls legend ended up playing golf together just a year later. They met at the NBA icon’s 12th annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, where he ended up beating Jordan at his own event.

The event was held at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, where the Olympic swimmer came out on top.

How did Michael Phelps beat Michael Jordan during a 2013 event?

Back then, Jordan shot 73 during his round against Phelps. However, the 18-time Olympic gold medalist had an even 72-par round, beating Jordan. According to reports, Phelps was focusing and improving on the links after retirement, and was even tutored by Hank Haney while on Golf Channel’s ‘The Haney Project’. Haney is Tiger Woods’ previous swing coach.

“For me, MJ was everything growing up,” Phelps said while speaking to Yahoo Sports. “That was the guy I wanted to be. I wanted to do in swimming what he did in the sport of basketball. In my opinion, he completely changed and grew the sport of basketball to an unbelievable place and heights. That’s really what I kind of replicated my career off of”. 

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Phelps even met Jordan in 2012, where he admitted that he froze upon seeing his idol. According to the retired swimmer, Jordan is probably the only one who could have done that to him, as he has always looked up to the six-time NBA champion. Phelps also wanted to spend time with Jordan during a Ryder Cup tournament.

“It was very special that he was able to come by, stop by and say hello,” Phelps added. “I’m still, like, out of it. That was awesome”. 

Everyone is also aware of Jordan’s love for golf, which began when he was in college. Since then, he is often seen playing golf, even attending events time and again. He even has his own golf course, specially designed to suit his game where drones deliver drinks on the course.