Golf Channel will carry the entire final round, as they’ve done the previous three days.
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But there was Kuchar on Sunday, that goofy grin from ear to ear, beaming.
Though Watson and Kuchar are back in the hunt, they are still six and seven shots back from leader Justin Rose, respectively. A very nice bronze medal that will rank among his finest golf achievements.
” … It’s just an fantastic week”. I’m going to just keep grinding. “There were times I kind of had to back off a few times and regather my thoughts and composure to make sure I try to continue to hit good shots”. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar vaulted themselves into the top 10.
One player still failing to live up to expectations is Patrick Reed.
For the first two rounds, Fowler was the outlier for the Americans and struggling with his game.
“I’m just taking it all in, talking to different athletes”, said Watson, who shot a four-under par 67, to place himself in medal contention, like his teammate Fowler, for Sunday’s final round.
Well, to start with, Matt Kuchar got a medal, Watson said. “It was a thrill of a lifetime”. “And that’s what he did”.
With a birdie at the 10th, he moved to 7 under, but that was as deep as he would go. It was Kuchar’s third straight under-par round.
On the 14th hole and looking at 30-footer for birdie, the two-time Masters victor seemed to stub his putt, which rolled about 5 feet, leaving him a 25-footer for par.
But unlike Fraser, he hasn’t quite found his game in the shifty Rio conditions and remains well back at -1 overall (tied-18th) heading into today’s Round 3 play. “For me, I grew up that way”. The future of the sport as an Olympic event beyond 2020 remains to be seen. Padraig Harrington was surprised to see more than 6,000 spread out across Olympic Golf Course, holding flags along the fairway ropes and sending cheers from all corners.
Olympic golf is not the only sport to have been blighted by low ticket sales, with even showpiece sports such as athletics failing to excite the locals. When it did become an Olympic sport, the lights went off and I said, ‘How fantastic, I can’t believe I now potentially have the opportunity’. Both have been committed to the Olympics from the start and now have a chance to drape a gold medal around the Claret Jug or U.S. Open trophy. “When you think about it, most weeks you have 156 guys playing, 155 losers”. This might be fate for me to make the team and if I make the team, I might as well make the most of it.
“What a privilege and an honour to say golf is in the Olympics and to be part of this”. It is really a dream come true.
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The Commonwealth sent 14 athletes to Rio to compete, and there’s still a chance for more to add to that medal count.
