So they took a few lessons.
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Bright sunshine greeted golf’s return to the Olympics after 112 years.
Greeting the players at the first tee were the IGF’s Peter Dawson, Ty Votaw and Antony Scanlon, the three most important figures in getting golf to this moment. “Listen to the marshals”.
The course designer, Gil Hanse, has said the lack of trees promote wind movement and if Rio has its typical windy August conditions the course will provide a really tough challenge.
World Number Six Bubba Watson was at odds with U.S. teammate Rickie Fowler when they were asked during their pre-tournament press conference if they’d attack down the stretch in search of gold, or be prepared to play it safe and settle for a lesser medal.
Apart from the biannual Ryder Cup between Europe and the USA, golfers play for themselves. A dominant performance like Stenson at Royal Troon?
“If you genuinely want the best thing that’s going to happen, you’re going to have four or five players in with a chance of winning with three or four holes to go. and Padraig Harrington finishing eagle-birdie-eagle to win it outright”, Harrington said.
Golf needs its stars that are here to shine. Now it is but one of 39 sports or disciplines, many of them with a much greater tradition in the Olympics. He said while he understood other golfers had their reasons for dropping out, he felt prepared to handle any mosquito-related risks. No Adam Scott either, or US Open runner-up Shane Lowry, or Hideki Matsuyama or Louis Oosthuizen, let alone Tiger Woods, the dominant force in the game when golf was readmitted to the Olympics back in 2009, now less an ambassador than an invalid.
“But I don’t think we’re going to be very happy with that knowing that gold was attainable or possible”. If we wanted it to be hard and impose our will on the field, we would have done something different. The precursors to Willett and his British team-mate Justin Rose, Walter Rutherford and David Robertson, won silver and bronze, although had you mentioned Team GB to them they would have either looked at you blankly or had you tried for treason. Improvements need to be made to the format and the schedule, and there needs to be more on-course incentive for the top players in the world to participate.
The tournament will be run on traditional lines with four rounds deciding the medals.
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“I am actually serious”, said Watson. “At the end of the day, you play for the top three or you play for the golden pineapple, which no one cares about”.
