Golfers’ Adilson da Silva of Brazil, Graham DeLaet of Canada and Byeong Hun An of South Korea, from left shake hands on the first hole during the first round of the men’s golf event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.
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Bubba Watson says he would lay up on 72nd hole to secure podium spot.
Cariocas are charming and upbeat.
“For me it would have been a big mistake not to come”, Kaymer said. “I think that would look kind of cool”.
Gil Hanse of the United States, who designed the course based on the principle of environmental preservation, was lauded by the Golf Environment Organization, an worldwide non-profit out of Britain dedicated to promoting environmentalism in the golf industry. It’s a very good course that will show beautifully on television. We are one sport speaking with one voice, with one objective: to return golf to the Olympic program. I knew there were concerns – I figured, though, that a lot of things get blown out of proportion.
In a stroke the 2016 US Masters champion put to bed the frenzy that surfaced when the world’s top-four ranked male golfers pulled out of the Rio 2016 Games earlier this year.
“Like with any competition, five years down the line, you’re not going to think about who wasn’t there, ” Stenson said.
During the tournament, Watson showed off his US golf gear and team outfit on his Facebook page.
All of the “big four” and two more of the top ten in Branden Grace and Adam Scott have dropped out of the Rio Olympics citing the ongoing Zika threat virus and their scheduling as the reasons behind their withdrawals. “I was thrilled when the opportunity came for me to be a part of the Olympics”.
Reed, who only found himself among the US squad following the withdrawals of Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, said he is relishing being an Olympian.
“It’s definitely different, it’s a great experience”. “When people turn on the TV to watch sports the one event where they can see nearly all the top athletes is the Olympics. It’s a little trickier to find the golf and silver and bronze”.
Fowler marched through Maracana Stadium with Team USA during the opening ceremonies. “It would just be the wind made me not get there”, Watson clarified. “I want to hang out there, try to meet the other athletes and enjoy my time as an Olympian”.
LERNER: The Olympics are different in that people who might otherwise never watch golf could well tune in simply because it’s the Olympics.
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I could be wrong, but my instinct says this: All that is obviously wrong with Rio, which has been duly noted by International Olympic Committee officials who will be voting on golf’s long-term future in the games next year, actually works to the sport’s benefit.
