How is this for a bold prediction – made four years in advance? When the competition returns in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we will have the cream of men’s golf taking part.
After all the months of negative publicity it received in the build-up towards the re-entry in the Olympic fold, there were nothing but rave reviews when action finally unfolded at the Olympics Golf Course.
The final-round battle between Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, eventually decided in favour of the Englishman on the final hole, may not have been in the same class as the one between Stenson and Phil Mickelson at the Open Championship in Royal Troon a month ago, but it was intense enough to warm the cockles of every heart involved with the re-introduction.
Matt Kuchar played his part with a brilliant Sunday charge. A sold-out crowd of nearly 12,000 people watched the proceedings over the weekend rounds and the TV ratings were pretty good as well. There should be no doubt that golf needs the Olympics.
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh made a valid point when he said that even if the governments in countries like India, China and Russia started a programme where they aimed to develop a group of four to six talented but underprivileged junior golfers into medal potential by taking care of their coaching, equipment and travel, it would serve the purpose of growing the game.
The Zika virus was a real threat when players like Rory McIlroy and Jason Day made their decision to pull out. And if crowded schedule was an issue, the International Golf Federation would have learned from the Rio experience to make suitable changes in 2020.
The women’s competition started on Wednesday, and given how good the response has been from the top ladies, it is sure to be a success.
Nothing beats the feeling of coming home with the gold, right Justin? 🏅🇬🇧 https://t.co/njqRUOJFZd
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2016
The curious case of Robert Allenby keeps getting more curious. The Australian is finding bizarre ways to be in the news, and the latest was an arrest at an Illinois casino for disorderly conduct and trespass.
Seems like he missed the cut at the John Deere Classic and got into trouble after a night of gambling and drinking.
The golfer has denied all this, but the police at Rock Island have said the golfer needed to post a bail of $1,500 after being put behind bars.
Last year, Allenby was involved in a major controversy when he claimed he was kidnapped, manhandled and robbed in Hawaii while playing the Sony Open.
Clearly, the 45-year-old needs help. His game has completely deserted him, and he seems to be courting trouble both on and off the course. He has made just two cuts in his last 24 starts, dating back to September last year and slipped to 1257th in the world rankings. That’s a remarkable drop from a career high of No. 12 back in 2010.
See Robert Allenby is in the John Deere Classic field... Checks on his season...2 made cuts pic.twitter.com/Ff5qsdtUDG
— Anthony Miller (@AnthonyOMiller) August 9, 2016
Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of the release of the iconic movie Tin Cup.
The Kevin Costner and Rene Russo starrer is perhaps the second most popular golf movie made after Caddyshack. Several parallels have been drawn with many players and the Hollywood script, but so far, the closest anyone ever came to replicating Roy McAvoy’s five balls into the water routine is John Daly.
During the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational, he outdid Costner’s character – although, he was not in contention and it certainly wasn’t the US Open – by hitting six balls into the water trying to reach the green 270 yards away.
Daly finally ended up with a score of 18 on that hole. McAvoy, on the other hand, holed out his 12th shot playing the last ball in his bag.
Well, Allenby also has something common with Tin Cup. He is one of the few PGA Tour players to have fired his caddie in the middle of the round – a fate which befell McAvoy while carrying the bag of David Simms (played by Don Johnson).
“That is the beauty of this event. If you’re in third, you’re actually going to be leaving with something. If you’re third at a major, yeah, you get world ranking points and a nice prize cheque. But I would definitely trade a third in a major for a third at the Olympics.” – Henrik Stenson at the start of the Olympic competition when asked to compare the Games with majors. The Swede eventually finished second.
Nine – out of top-10 ranked women players in the world are competing at this week’s Olympic golf competition. It could not be a perfect 10 because world No. 10 Ha Na Jang did not qualify as she was the fifth Korean player in the top-15 of women’s rankings.
A maximum of four players from one country are allowed to compete in Rio provided they are ranked inside the top-15. The USA will have three representatives in the field.
