CHICAGO — Imagine picking up golf three years ago and shooting 77 one day this summer.



That would be Auston Matthews.



When you’re a world-class athlete, you’re a world-class athlete.



So I’m not sure anyone should be surprised the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar can go out and break 80 just a few years after picking up the game.



Not that he’s bragging. I had to drag that info out of him Friday at the NHL-NHLPA Player Tour.



“I love golf,” blushed the always fashionable Matthews during a sit-down interview with The Athletic. “I got into it three years ago after my first year (in the NHL) because I was like, ‘What am I going to do in the summer?’ I need to take time off, I can’t just be skating year-round. So I got into golf, took some lessons.”



And, of course, he attacked the game like he does with anything he’s passionate about. He shot between 80 and 85 so...