During the course of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Dubai Desert Classic, several leading players were posed a simple question – Olympic gold, or a major championship?
There is such hullabaloo about golf’s readmission into the five-ringed spectacle that fans are agog with expectation, waiting for the sport to make its bow on August 11 at the new Gil Hanse-designed course in Rio.
So, are the players equally excited?
Well, there were only two players among a dozen asked who said they’d rather have an Olympic gold – German Martin Kaymer and Spain’s Miguel Angel Martinez. Everyone else would prefer a Green Jacket or a Claret Jug.
Kaymer said he’d take a gold this year and a major next year. World No1 Jordan Spieth would not mind having both. Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler clearly preferred majors, while Henrik Stenson would appreciate an Olympic gold, but it’s the honour of becoming the first Swede major champion that attracts him more.
That doesn’t mean players are anti-Olympics, far from it. Only one golfer has made it known so far that he is not in favour of readmission into the quadrennial sporting extravaganza – Australia’s Adam Scott.
The issue that golfers are facing is that they aren’t sure how an Olympic gold is going to enhance, or change their status in golf’s history when they are finally done with the sport. Even if they win one major title, they are assured of immortality. But can an Olympic gold do that?
A great example is tennis. Like golf, it made a comeback into the Olympics in 1988. However, how many of us remember the winners of that year? Miloslav Mecir, then representing Czechoslovakia, was the first male champion, but his career has hardly become unforgettable because of that.
McIlroy put it nicely. “When I was growing up, I never dreamt of making a putt to win the Olympic gold. It was either for the Masters or the Open Championship. So, all this is very new for me. I’d obviously love to win for my country, but we really do not have an idea what the significance of winning an Olympic gold will be. Maybe, I will appreciate it much more after a couple of Olympics,” said the world No2.
DeChambeau’s cape
American amateur Bryson DeChambeau, who lit up the Desert Swing with his exploits these past three weeks, is known for his many quirks but here’s a new one.
As is well known by now, DeChambeau plays with the shafts of all his irons and wedges cut to the same height.
He also dips all his golf balls in Epsom salt solution the night before to find out the perfectly balanced ones, with which he plays his round the next day.
We've spotted Bryson DeChambeau on the putting green, the 22-year-old isn't shy of bright-coloured clothes @OmegaDDC pic.twitter.com/wzrVQ20IaF
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 7, 2016
But here is the new one – he wears the trademark ‘flat cap’ only during tournament days. On practice days, and during pro-ams, he prefers the normal golf caps.
Ask him why, and you get the most unusual answer from someone who prefers to be called a ‘golf scientist’ – DeChambeau says the flat cap is like a superhero cape for him. He pulls it on only on days when he has serious work to do.
I am not sure whether DeChambeau will be able to save the world or not, but stars like him are surely making the golfing world a much more interesting place to be.
Future of Spanish Open
I am delighted that Spanish Open remains on the European Tour schedule and it is bound to get a new lease of life given the new association with Sergio Garcia.
There were doubts in the Spanish media circle regarding the future of the tournament. First played in 1912, the Spanish Open is one of the oldest tournaments in the world and has been a constant part of the European Tour since 1972.
However, a member of the Spanish media told me recently that the Spanish Golf Federation was very upset with the European Tour for granting the Ryder Cup to Italy, only because they were promised that the Italian Open would become a €7million tournament from next year. So, obviously, sanity has prevailed. Here’s looking forward to a very successful Spanish Open.
Stat of the Week
201,003 – that is the number of fans who attended last week’s Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday, thus making it the only golf tournament ever to have more than 200,000 spectators attending on a single day.
The previous record, obviously, was held by the same tournament – 189,722 during the third round in 2014. Of course, the tournament comfortably went on to beat its previous attendance record of 564,338 from 2014. The final tally last week was 618,365.
