Sunday Morning: Morning Drive Airs David Feherty Interview With President Barack Obama

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If you watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio Games you know there was a short conversation with President Barack Obama about the Olympics.

David Feherty's full chat is set to air on Golf Channel's Morning Drive from 7:30 to 9 am ET.

No preview clip is available. Among the purported topics: golf entering the Olympics and Obama's game.

This latest "get" means Feherty has interviewed all of the living golfing presidents.

In other Obama news, Kathy Bergen and Katherine Skiba report that the decision to bring his Presidential Library to the South Shore could help expedite the hoped-for renovation of Jackson Park.

The long-shot vision to build an expansive 18-hole course worthy of a spot on the PGA Tour, which has been hovering on the radar, gained momentum last week with the announcement that Obama's library and museum would be built in historic Jackson Park, said Mark Rolfing, an NBC/Golf Channel analyst who is advising the Chicago Park District on the idea.

Video: Rio Olympic Golf Course 7th, 8th and 9th Holes

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The closing three holes of the front nine return to the upper shelf of the property where the sandy influence is stronger. The long par-4 7th plays493/407 yards into the wind with a strong false front green.

Gil Hanse narrates the flyover for Golf Digest. Here is his final rendering.

The par-3 eighth (172/154) certainly exudes ties to the Redan and given the terrain it was set on, the fit was not forced. The rendering and the flyover:

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The par-4 ninth hole brings a little blindness and weirdness to close out the front nine, playing 369 yards for the men and 324 yards for the women. The rendering.

Oops: Kuchar Is Now Aware Of The Actual Olympic Golf Format

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In the better late than never files, Matt Kuchar found out during his Travelers Championship media session that there is no team format in the 2016 Olympic golf.

Joel Beall at GolfDigest.com details the awkward exchange just three days out from the opening ceremony.

"There is no combined? No team event whatsoever?" Kuchar continued. "Just an individual. We did the same thing at World Cup: 72 hole stroke play. I played with Kevin Streelman. We never played together but we did represent the United States in a team format.

"That was my initial impression of what was happening with the Olympics, but I'm incorrect on that."

ESPN's Jason Sobel helped clarify the situation for Kuchar, remarking, "If Bubba wins you don't get a medal."

And it's at that point we came to the collective realization: Kuchar legitimately didn't know the Olympic tournament's configuration.

Video: Rio Olympic Golf Course 4th, 5th and 6th Holes

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Catching up now post-PGA on the Rio Olympic course, with the fourth, fifth and sixth hole flyovers by Golf Digest and narrated by Gil Hanse.

The par-3 4th hole 191 yards for the men and 155 yards for the women and looks like an ideal sandbelt one-shotter, only windier.


Gil's final rendering of the hole.

The par-5 fifth hole is 547 yards for the men and 493 for the women and plays gently uphill. It's hard to see, but this is a wonderful greensite that should be a great spectating portion of the course.

Gil's rendering of the fifth.

The par-3 sixth plays 196 yards for the men and 177 yards for the women. This hole features two tees, including a blind option over the dune. Strap in, this should be fun!

Gil's final rendering of the 6th includes both tee options.

Today In Not Really Zika Virus: IOC Evaluating, Player Slams WDs, Rory At Peace, Coke To Silhouette Jordan

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Could male golfers get themselves DQ'd from future Olympics while the women show off in Tokyo?

The chances are slim, but after reading Steven Wilson's AP story, all of the players who mentioned looking forward to future Olympic opportunities may look silly.

Wilson spoke to top IOC man Thomas Bach, and under Wilson's scenario, option is on the table to drop the men but not the women, though Bach did not say that.

The IOC will meet after the Rio Games to evaluate golf and all other sports and events on the program.

"One of the main categories of the evaluation is, of course, the question of participation of the best players," Bach said. "Let us wait then for this evaluation. Then, of course, we will also speak with the International Golf Federation once this is available."

By evaluating events within each sport, the IOC could look separately at the men's and women's tournaments. As it has been almost exclusively male players who have been withdrawing from Rio, the IOC could potentially consider whether to drop the men's event and keep the women's tournament for Tokyo.

Brian Keogh of the Irish Golf Desk quotes Rory McIlroy at length, who says he feels even more peace of mind than ever not going.

Explaing his Olympics decision in detail, he said: “Zika is a risk but there are other risks attached to going to Rio from political unrest to security issues. So there is more to it that that.

“There were enough people around me, members of my team and my family who weren’t comfortable and I wasn’t comfortable going down there so I felt that the best decision for me was to pull the plug."

And he presumes Tokyo will be there for him in four years.

“We have golf in the Olympics in Tokyo in four years’ time and if I really feel the need to get that Olympic experience hopefully, I can go there and do that.  

“I have no regrets. I have made my stance pretty clear and golf in the Olympics. I play for other things.

“Golf in the Olympics is great for golf and to grow the game. There is no question about that. But with the number of top professionals have decided not to go, that shows where it stands in our minds."

Hopefully Thomas Bach didn't see that last line!

Speaking to Morning Drive's Cara Robinson, Gary Player took his criticism of the Olympic WD's to a new level.

"I'm bitterly disappointed," said Player, the team captain for South Africa. "In America today, their plus-minus combined with car accidents and guns, 100,000 people killed a year, and you're going to go and play in a golf tournament where Zika is the great word. I think there's a greater chance of that happening to you in America than getting Zika. I was just in Zambia, where you have Malaria, and it didn't concern me at all.

"I'm really amazed," he added. "I just hope that it doesn't hurt golf. I hope we stay in the Olympics. I do believe we should have it for amateurs and not for professionals."

And Coca-Cola has coverted planned packaging featuring Jordan Spieth to a silhouette of a golfer, reports SBJ's Ben Fischer (H/T John Strege who has other details on the change in marketing approach).

Rio 2016: Spieth, McIlroy Fumble The Torch

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It's a day that won't be looked on with much affection by those who admire the skill, passion and leadership roles Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have been carrying for golf.

Inheriting and running with the torch handed to them in recent years--and enjoying the perks that come with the gig--these popular and impressive athletes have inspired young people. They've reminded the world that golf is a sport played by passionate figures.  And they have done their part when called upon to spread the gospel of golf to new lands. But after passing on the 2016 Rio games for reasons that seem less than their normally honest feelings, they've fumbled the torch each seemed so proud to have taken from golf's revered champions of the past.

Golf in the Olympics, while flawed due to the format and crowded schedule, is still one week out of their lives that could have cemented them as ambassadors, world-class sportsman willing to eat Olympic Village food for a week, and all around gents who love golf so much they'll show up in Rio for four whole days of potentially exciting golf.

However, the lads have stumbled in passing on Rio for an undisclosed health reason (Spieth), and altogether dismissing Olympic golf in a petty manner (McIlroy).

Spieth, who had called this a fifth major, signed with Olympic presenting sponsor Coca Cola to be part of its campaign, and who genuinely seems determined to become a sporting legend, could never quite disclose the reason he waffled right up to the inopportune moment of announcing his decision at a major championship (Alex Myers with Spieth's comments here.)

More disconcerting was the assertion that this was the hardest decision of his life, paramount to a college choice. While many around the world would envy someone who has never faced a decision more difficult than deciding to play in the first Olympic golf competition in 104 years or whether to go to UT or USC, the gravity suggests Spieth isn't quite prepared for the modern limelight that is so harsh. Trying to crack a joke about carrying the torch didn't help.

But at least Spieth seems to have genuinely agonized over this. McIlroy, however, went a disappointing path in belittling the competition by suggesting it is not one that matters. While John Huggan rightly notes the brutal honesty of McIlroy is, in part, why he is beloved and paid handsomely to be a global brand ambassador, McIlroy didn't have to put Olympic golf down because he's decided not to go.

The key quote from James Corrigan's Telegraph story:

“But, look, I get where different people come from and different people have different opinions. But I'm very happy with the decision that I've made and I have no regrets about it. I'll probably watch the Olympics, but I'm not sure golf will be one of the events I watch.”

When pressed which events these would be, he replied: “Probably the events like track and field, swimming, diving, the stuff that matters.”

As Jason Sobel wrote of the surreal at ESPN.com:

Unlike Spieth's delicate attempt to convey golf's relevance in the Olympics without his participation, McIlroy stuck a knife in the back of the event and twisted it. Hard.

Ultimately golf is an individual sport played successfully by those who think very hard about themselves, their goals and their needs. Spieth and McIlroy confirmed they are no different than many past champions in putting their needs first. The difference, however, is that while past champions were often selfish and inconsistent at times, they were never handed a torch resembling this Olympic opportunity.

Dawson Cracks: Zika "Over-reaction" By Male Golfers

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James Corrigan of The Telegraph sums up the first sign of irritation by International Golf Federation officials at male golfers who are passing on Rio.

He writes:

Dawson offered his “understanding”, but his frustration was clear. More than anyone, the former R&A chief executive made golf’s case to the International Olympic Committee and it is interesting that the 2009 bid was backed by all the top players of the day, including Tiger Woods. Each of the current top four had earlier expressed their support to this Olympic tournament with Spieth declaring he was going to treat it “like a fifth major”. However, despite the Zika danger, those words seem extremely hollow now with the game fighting for its credibility as an Olympic sport.

Frankly I'm amazed it took this long for some pushback or skepticism from the top Olympic golf officials, particularly those who have spent so much time backing the bid, vision and effort to globalize the sport.

Ewan Murray of The Guardian noted Dawson's punchier line.

In response to a subsequent question over how susceptible golfers may be to Zika, which is transmitted via mosquitos, Dawson replied with more than a touch of sarcasm: “I take great heart from the fact we haven’t lost a greenkeeper yet.”