Lydia Ko: Olympics Are Priority No. 1

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I'm fairly certain world No. 1 Lydia Ko has always been excited about the Olympics, as have all of the women getting their first chance at a gold medal. But it's still fun to see players sounding more and more excited about golf's return to the Olympiad.

From an unbylined AP story:

Ko, who will defend her New Zealand Open title from Friday, said there was ''so much excitement and vibe'' around the Olympic tournament, ''especially as it's the first time women will play at the Olympics in golf.''

The 18-year-old New Zealander said ''ever since they announced that golf will be in the Olympics I said, 'Hey, I want to get myself on that team.' For any athlete to say you're an Olympian is a whole new proud feeling, and to represent your country on such an international stage it's going to be a pretty special week.''

The Zika Virus And Olympic Golf...

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While most of the various grave threats posed by Rio's Olympic golf course have passed or been overblown, the Zika virus would seem the most problematic since it is transmitted through mosquito bites.

On the news that PGA Tour LatinoAmerica is briefly postponing two events to let the mosquitoes pass (per Golf.com's report by Marika Washchyshyn), UPI's Tom LaMarre says all inquiries are being made.

"We're having discussions about the precautionary steps we feel need to be taken in and around the golf competition, and making plans to implement them to the maximum degree," said Ty Votaw, vice president of the International Golf Federation.

Votaw said special mosquito repellant might be distributed to fans, and officials plan to create movement in the ponds to eliminate standing water.

Golf Really Bothers People Files: Rio Golf Course Vol. 39,301

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I get that there is a lot to dislike about golf in the Olympics, or the Rio Games or rich people building a public course to make money from condo sales.

Yet to show just how angry golf makes some people, check out the Financial Times' Jules Boycoff citing the building of the Olympic course as a brazen act of transferring public wealth into private hands. Meanwhile, poor people are being evicted, the waters are so polluted that athletes may get sick, and yet the golf course is example A of all things wrong with these games?

Golf makes people do strange things!

From Boycoff's piece:

Nowhere has the transfer of public wealth into private hands been more brazen than in the construction of the Rio 2016 golf course. The Rio Olympics mark the return of golf to the Games after a 112-year hiatus. As was touted in Rio’s original Olympic bid, the metropolis already has two elite golf courses that have staged major tournaments. One of these could have been renovated to meet Olympic standards.

The ball would need to be going thirty yards shorter and the crowds limited, not to mention mountain climbers in one case, if this were true. Anyway, go on...

But in an audacious maneuver Mayor Paes decided to locate the golf closer to the Olympic complex in Barra da Tijuca, a wealthy western suburb, even if that meant plunking the course inside the Marapendi Nature Reserve, home to numerous threatened species.

In doing so, Paes teed up a staggering deal for billionaire developer Pasquale Mauro. As long as Mauro paid the bill for the golf course — between $20 and $30 million — he’d also win a contract to build 140 luxury apartments around it.

While the mayor’s office has pointed out the benefits of no public money being used in the construction of the site, these units start at $2 million, with penthouse condominiums pushing upwards of $6 million. It doesn’t take a math whiz to calculate the value of this multi-million dollar sweetheart deal, gift-wrapped by City Hall.

While the Mayor and Mr. Mauro will not be winning any Nobel Peace prizes anytime soon, to suggest that the course was built at public expense seems a huge stretch. However, the anger the sport evokes will be part of the (neverending?) battle for golf to overcome this August.

R&A Chief On Match-Fixing, Shorts, Olympics, Trump

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In his most extensive interview to date (unbylined BBC story), new R&A Chief Martin Slumbers acknowledged that the group is monitoring the potential for betting irregularity issues coming to golf, is open to considering shorts for practice rounds, is excited about golf's Olympic moment, and is continuing the organization’s effort to punt on the issue of an Open at Trump Turnberry.

Interestingly, just last week new European Tour head (and fellow fast play advocate of Slumbers) Keith Pelley, said there was no concern betting scandals like those in tennis could find their way to golf. (He's sounding a bit like Tim Finchem a decade ago suggesting there was no need for drug testing in golf.)

Slumbers doesn’t agree even though no evidence has surfaced suggesting anything has taken place like tennis has seen. Still, with bookmakers offering daily wagering on head-to-head play in groups, the opportunity is there for match-fixing.

"I think the events of the last few months will bring it more to the top of those agendas, yes," he said.

"If there was evidence starting to build of inappropriate betting, the game is run by some very responsible and sensible people who have the game at heart and I'm sure will do the right thing. We are certainly keeping this under careful attention.

Rio Test Event Participation Facing "Compaction" Issues

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Commissioner Coterminous wheeled out his first gem in a while, describing for AP's Doug Ferguson the issues facing golf's effort to get players to Rio for the necessary "test event" to fulfill all obligations with the International Olympic Committee.

"We've got a good list of players who are, quote, interested in coming," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "But we don't have a long list of players who are committed to coming. That's the case with the guys who are currently playing on the PGA Tour, just because of the schedule, looking ahead to the summer, seeing the compaction. So I don't know."

Golf A Step Closer To Paralympics Inclusion

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Arguably the biggest bummer in golf's 2016 return to the Olympics: the failure to be recognized in time by the International Paralympic Committee, which would have opened the doors to golf in the Paralympics (where it belongs).

Dan Palmer reports on a key step in that process as the International Golf Federation is now a member of the IPC, setting up the possibility for future inclusion in the games.

 

Olympic Golf Field As It Stands Now: 14 Outside The Top 200

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Hard to say if this is about where we would have expected heading into golf's 2016 Olympic debut, but Doug Ferguson says in his AP notes column that 14 of 60 men are outside the top 200 as it stands now. That is unlikely to change because of the qualification guidelines and may even present a greater disparity on the women's side given that so many top players are from the United States and South Korea.

On the "Pro" side, this theoretically means that those who qualify for the Olympics will have a great shot at medaling. On the Con side? Limited fields with more than 20% clearly not as deserving means we could get either a runaway, random victor, or a massive upset. The latter (underdog element) being less of an issue in my book.

Rio Olympic Course Handed Over; AP Still Mocks Golf In Rio

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You'd think that finding out Olympic athletes might get sick because of the disgusting waters would have quieted the assault on golf in Rio. But AP's Stephen Wade continues to mock the idea of a course in the Brazilian host city even as it marches ahead toward an actual opening.

A hand-off ceremony of the golf course from the developer to the organizing committee was as ceremonial as you can get, but that didn't stop the AP from covering it with its decided attitude that golf doesn't belong in Rio (neither do events in natural bodies of water so contaminated that athletes may get ill).

AP's Wade twice tweeted his story with (two!) attempts to liken golf in Rio to building a bullring in Finland. I'll give you a moment to absorb that metaphorical mastery. Oh wait, it made the story too.

The legacy for the sport is unclear.

Few people play golf in Brazil, and Paes has acknowledged the game probably has little future in the South American country. Some have compared building a golf course in Brazil to setting up a bullring in Finland.

Some!

"In Brazil I don't think there's much legacy for a golf course," Paes said. "I've always said that. I don't think this is something Brazil is very famous for, delivering courses. It's not a popular sport in Brazil. But there are some things you need to do when you deliver the Olympics."

Carlos Nuzman, the head of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, contradicted the mayor just minutes later.

"It's a big legacy," Nuzman said. "It's a public golf course. There are a lot of young kids — boys and girls — who want to participate to develop golf. It's a chance for golf in a new region of the world to be developed."

The sure winner is probably the developer Mauro, who is building the course with private money. It follows the pattern of other Olympic projects in Rio, where large real estate interests have moved in. Another is the nearby Athletes Village — 3,600 high-end apartment units — that will be sold off after the games.

Mercifully, AP's Doug Ferguson will be covering Olympic golf and he won't muddle his lede with some bizarro agenda.

I'm sensing if Stephen Wade covered the final round of the men's golf, his lede would look something like this:

Golf's future in Rio remains uncertain, but that didn't stop Jordan Spieth from holding off Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler in sudden death to capture the first Olympic gold medal in golf since 1904.

Anyway, looks like a nice casual handoff ceremony...

Adam Scott Reiterates, Expands On His Disdain For Olympic Golf

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Some have questioned how someone who tends to go about his way quietly could have such strong resentment toward golf in the Olympics, so it's good to see Adam Scott elaborating on his disdain.

From an unbylined story in The Age on the eve of the Australian Masters:

He said he would have liked organisers to have been more "creative" and considered a mixed team event.

"I'm not really sure how just having another golf tournament is really going to enhance the game or grow the game any more than any other tournament just because it's the Olympics.

"With the field criteria it doesn't necessarily get the strongest field in the game either."

He is correct on both points, though the field make-up is by far much less egregious than the mundane format which was, sadly, endorsed by Scott's peers.

Such A Relief Files: Vijay Agrees To Represent Fiji In Rio

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Granted, he still has to qualify and stay off the deer antler spray, but because of the Olympic Golf format the 52-year-old should be eligible to represent Fiji next summer in Rio.

And because I know you were losing sleep at night wondering what his decision would be, I bring you good news and bad news for whoever gets stuck in an Olympic Village room with the Big Geezer Grump! He's in!

The Jet reports:

“Vijay is a proud Fijian who has been successfully representing our nation for more than 30 years, bringing great credit to Fiji by reaching the top of world golfing. For him to agree to be part of the Fijian team for Rio if he qualifies is something that every Fijian sports fan will welcome. Because I have no doubt that on his current performance, the chances of him doing so are very high”, he said.

The Prime Minister also revealed that Vijay Singh has agreed to mentor the Fijian Rugby Sevens team, which has already qualified for Rio, along with the Under 19s National Football team.

And when I think mentor, I think Vijay!