Golf at the Olympics just a year away
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The Olympics gets underway exactly a year today and that’s great news for golf which makes a welcome return to the world’s biggest sporting arena – it last featured in 1904!
Sixty players will be battling to strike gold, along with silver and bronze, over 72 holes of strokeplay, with no team component, for both men and women.
The 60 players will come from the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 11, 2016. The top 15 automatically qualify, with no more than four golfers per country. From there, the most a country can have is two players.
The familiar format has been criticised in some quarters who feel that the Olympics event should be something new, something different and fresh and maybe involving some kind of team scenario.
However, World no.5 Rickie Fowler reckons the organisers have got it right, saying: “I think it’s probably the easiest way to go about things and see how it works out.
“If they need to or want to make any changes, they can. That’s how 99 percent of the tournaments are done when we play. We play one match play event a year. It’s probably the easiest and least controversial way to go about it at the start.
“They can make some changes down the road, but I wouldn’t mind whatever it is if I go play for the US. I’ll play any format they want.”
Whatever happens, it promises to be a fascinating competition and you can bet your bottom dollar, euro and pound that all 60 players involved will be trying to pull out all the stops to stand proud on top of the rostrum.
And among them is current injured Wiorld no.1 Rory McIlroy who will be flying the Irish f lag at the games. He explained: “If you look at the rugby players, you look at cricketers or hockey players, they view Ireland as one, the same as we do in golf.
“I don’t think there’s any point to change that or any point to go against that just because it’s a different event or it’s the Olympics. I was always very proud to put on the Irish uniform and play as an amateur and as a boy, and I would be very proud to do it again.”
