Hit by numerous high-profile player withdrawals in the build-up, golf’s return to the Olympic Games was generally well-received as Justin Rose won the Gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.
The allure of an Olympic medal triumphed over player fears over the Zika virus in what was an entertaining affair at the Gil Hanse design in Brazil. In the end, it would come down to a game of pitch-and-putt on the linksy-style Olympic course, with the Englishman Rose pitching to two feet and Henrik Stenson pitching to over twenty feet.
The Swede would then three-putt, paving the way for Rose to birdie and sign for a 67 to post a 15-under-par total to beat Stenson by two shots.
It was a fitting battle to conclude an Olympic event that had perhaps exceeded many people’s expectation. After it took a reputation hit from the likes of McIlroy, Spieth and Day, the attitude of the participating players may have done enough to secure its immediate future.
One needs to look no further than Justin Rose for a vindication of its inclusion. Rose tweeted in excitement about playing in the Olympics for Great Britain as early as June 2013 and never wavered on the benefits of the Olympics to golf as a whole, and indeed, to his own golf career.
This conviction was evident in Rose’s game from beginning to end, from a spectacular first Olympic hole-in-one in only his fourth hole of the tournament, to the final hole, when the Englishman clinched the win with a birdie.
“I think it sits alongside the US Open trophy for me, for sure. I think people want to keep comparing the two, major championship or Olympic Gold, I don’t think they should be compared to one another,” Rose said.
“I said earlier this year that if my resumé one day read “multiple major champion and Olympic Gold medalist,” I would be a very, very happy man. Just going to tag on another major now.”
Few would put it past Rose winning another major after a superb ball-striking display in Rio. American Matt Kuchar fired a brilliant closing 63 to finish at 13 under and take the bronze medal.
There will still be skeptics as to the overall importance of golf in the Olympics and its place on the pantheon of golfing achievement. The Official World Golf Ranking rating for the event was 46 points, which is the equivalent of the 2016 Irish Open and actually worse than the 2015 tournament, to put the strength of field into context. It was well behind the major rating of 100, if you can put a number on national pride. As Rose said though, for now the event should be taken on its own merits and not in comparison with centuries-old major competitions.
The international flavour of the event generally worked in its limited field capacity but next time golf needs its forefront stars at the Games. Tokyo as a venue should prove more appealing as a golf-mad nation, and as a city, incidents like the gunpoint robbery of swimmer Ryan Lochte, which took place during the Games, should be less likely to happen in Japan.
The list of absentees can never say they were at the first Olympic Games in 112 years however, a privilege which many of golf’s greatest players embraced this year. “It will take a couple of weeks to realise what really happened here but so far, it’s the greatest week of my career,” said multiple major winner Martin Kaymer, which is no faint praise from such an acclaimed former world number one.
The overwhelmingly positive experience of Rory McIlroy’s close friends Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler also may even get Rory to buy into the whole Olympic movement, who at the moment stands as its highest-profile skeptic. McIlroy, of course, infamously said in the build-up that not only would he not take part but he would only bother to watch “the stuff that matters”, which in his mind did not include golf.
It is worth noting that Rory once called the Ryder Cup an “exhibition event” of no importance to him, before later regretting his statement and saying that his Ryder Cup experiences were among the best in his career. As the saying goes, ‘don’t knock it until you try it’ and if McIlroy can be coerced into travelling to Tokyo then he might even grow to enjoy it as much as the other golfers have.
There’s no doubt that it was a blow for a small nation like Ireland to miss out on a player of Rory McIlroy’s talent but if one man’s gain is another man’s opportunity then this Olympics could be the making of another Irish player who wouldn’t have played without the triple withdrawal of Lowry, McIlroy and McDowell – Waterford’s Seamus Power.
The Olympics must not have even entered Power’s mind in late April as he headed to the United Leasing and Finance Championship on the web.com Tour ranked 727th in the world. A win there and a few withdrawals later, Power found himself going to Rio.
Halfway through Sunday, a front-nine of 30 shots would give Ireland hope of a bronze medal before Power eventually faded to tied 15th place. The 29-year-old headed into the Games with a low profile outside of the most hardcore Irish sport fans. He kept this low profile among governing bodies as well, he did not receive an invite to the Irish Open in May.
“It’s unbelievable. Just representing Ireland on a stage like this, is something, as a golfer, you never thought you’d get. It’s such an honour for me,” Power said. “It was pretty special. I’ll never forget it.”
Power is set to gain promotion to the PGA Tour next year, so the Olympics were the perfect way to announce himself to Ireland and wider world ahead of the 2017 season.
Meanwhile, Harrington would finish in a tie for 21st place but this came after a disappointing final day where he was hampered by a recurrence of an old neck injury he’s kept under control for several years. Before the injury, he sat just four shots off the bronze medal spot and played alongside third-placed Matt Kuchar on Sunday.
“What can I say,” he said. “I was struggling with neck injury and couldn’t brace up at impact. I was hoping I would get some momentum at the start but I really didn’t know where it was going to go.”
The week was a hugely enjoyable experience for Harrington.
“There was a feeling of joy after hitting the first shot. I’m an Olympic athlete now forever. I think the tournament was great. I think the players loved it. There was a nice buzz all week. No downside whatsoever.”
Harrington had fought so hard for golf in the Olympics and spoke on its behalf in front of the IOC in 2009. He said: “When you think about it, most weeks, you have 156 guys playing, 155 losers. This week, you have 60 guy playing, and we are all winners.”
Suitable words for an Irish golfing legend on what was a unique, memorable and historic week for golf.
The Power Drive 