Day & Scott Win World Cup; Call On Olympic Golf Format Change

Royal Melbourne produced a super final round of the World Cup which was set up primarily as a stroke play event with a small portion of the purse also going to the low two-man team score. Jason Day held off Thomas Bjorn and a charging Adam Scott to win the title on a "rollercoaster" day as Martin Blake put it. But the post-round commentary from the winning Australian team should--and won't--cause the International Golf Federation and IOC to reconsider the 2016 Olympic golf format.

But it's still fun to see that now pretty much the entire universe expects to see a team component in Rio and won't get it.

In an unbylined APF story, Day said Olympic golf should be all team, all the time.

“My message to the Olympic Games organisers is that it would be good thing if teammates could play together in Rio and if Adam and I should get there to represent Australia,” said Day.

“If we play together we could help each other out as teammates as they do in other Olympic team sports.
“I know at present Adam doesn’t need that much support given the way he is playing, but if we went to the Olympics and played alongside each other as teammates that is going to help.”

He continued: “The format was great this week and Adam and I can’t complain about the result, and it’s kind of hard not to like it when you win, but I think the Olympic organisers should pair all the teams together.

“And unlike this week, they should also make it a rule where we can help and support our teammate as that would go a long way.”

Day added: “If the team aspect was put in place and every team played alongside each other that would draw bigger crowds to the golf.”

No, no, no Jason, the world is clamoring for another week of 72-hole stroke play. Well, the world of the people on the committee who have consistently dug in and resisted common sense.

Well at least Adam Scott clarified: fourball might be nice.

“It’s hard enough not to like the format when Jason and I are sitting here as winners,” he said.

“But then I still would have liked to spend the four days alongside Jason as a team playing fourball and that is my only comment against this week’s format.

“Of course, nothing against the guys I played alongside,” he added with a smile.

Interestingly, the World Cup format appeared to have been designed as a test run for a possible inclusion of a team component in 2020, but I doubt anyone involved expected the players to be clamoring for two-man teams as the primary way to determine Olympic gold.

There were a couple of super shots Sunday in Melbourne. Scott, approaching a very difficult hole location on the first, holed out for eagle: