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...