While setting up a new golf course in Rio de Janeiro in time for Olympics was one of the greatest problems, golf is once again facing another obstacle; they are not sure whether players will participate. This does not make any sense because the best three golf players in the world will be participating in August. They are also considered the best players in Rio that is Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and Rory Mcllory. However, golf has already tainted its image after four major champions announced that they would not be competing for gold, silver or pride.
The first champion to drop out of the golf course game was Adam Scott, although he was the first Australian to win a green jacket and the number seven player in the world, this did not come as a surprise to most people. This is because Adam had all along not being receptive to the Olympics and he had even announced that he did not hold the Olympics too dearly. Louis Oosthuizen who is considered as the sweet- swinging South African and British Open champion at St. Andrews announced that he wasn’t participating in the Olympics too. He said he had some family issues and scheduling problems. He was replaced by Charles Schwartzel who played for South Africa for only one day.
Schwartzel is known as the 2011 Masters champion and also backed out the last minute. All the three players are rated among the top twenty internationally. Vijay Singh also dropped out of the Olympics claiming that the Olympics were scheduled in a bad part of the golf schedule. This means that Fiji will not have a golfer in Rio since it does not have any other players who have topped in the last two years. Golf stayed for over 112 years before joining the Olympic program and so the players who dropped out of the Olympics should be understood. The last gold medalist in golf had been George Lyon.
Golf sport thrusts every the box in the Olympic Values and features, this is mostly because it has a worldwide appeal. It does not put much emphasis on the winning of a medal. It is not even included in the top five sports of this year. However, it was a very big thing when Golf was included in the Olympics again. The golf officials are advertising how much the game will grow since it already has a great audience and the governments of the countries where the sport is not played will fund it. Problems arose and this was blamed on either the format or full participation. Most times when a player cites a tight schedule for failing to participate in competitions the PGA Tour is blamed.
A schedule that suits every player has been published. The question remains whether the golf sport is as important as stated. The U.S Open and the British Open including the World Golf Championship are all played in a five- week stretch. After the Olympics are over the PGA Tour Players are given one week before commencing on the FedEx Cup playoffs. While other sports use most of the Olympic year preparing for the big Olympic event, golf Olympics are placed in the center of big moments. July 11 has been set as the deadline in which players will be required to succeed in the world ranking. This means that Phil Mickelson might probably win the British Open and PGA championship and automatically be disqualified from Rio.
Other players that might participate include Brendon De Jonge from Zimbabwe who will risk losing his PGA Tour cards by participating in the Olympics. The three best golf players in the world will not hinder golf Olympics. However, it will be a different case scenario if Tiger Woods decides to participate in the John Deere Classic in the week of the Olympics.
This article is published in: News
Tags: Africa, Golf, Olympics Games
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