Why Was Zika A Non-Starter For Some Golfers But Not COVID-19?

That’s the question Dave Seanor asks at MorningRead.com as players are going to be locking up their field spot officially for next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

You may recall that several top players passed on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, concerned they might bring back the virus to their loved ones. Players like Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth all expressed worries about health in passing up golf’s return to the Games.

All four are entered for the Colonial return. This, as testing increased in Texas by 31% while the number of confirmed infections rose by 51%.

Seanor makes several strong points about the “credulity” strain of arguments in 2016 versus now and says it is “mind-boggling that more Tour members haven’t questioned the wisdom of going back to work so soon.”

He writes:

What changed? Is the health of their families no longer a priority? Do they have that much trust that the Tour can protect them, and everyone affiliated with the tournament, from exposure to a virus that has infected more than 1.8 million Americans and has yet to plateau – indeed, has increased – in some parts of the country? Or was their expressed concern about Zika, as widely suspected, just a convenient smokescreen to hide their lack of enthusiasm for the Olympics?

We certainly know issues surrounding the Olympics and enthusiasm played a role, as did the travel distance. But given the threat posed by Zika (2400 U.S. cases, one death), the current situation does seem significantly more concerning.

"PGA Tour, other tours should take cue from Olympics"

One of the more lucid reads in a while on golf tournaments, postponements and the big picture comes from Morning Read’s Dave Seanor. He highlights both the tough-but-necessary call by the IOC to postpone the Olympics, as well as the reasoned stance of the International Golf Federation head Antony Scanlon.

As it turns out, the IOC was ahead of the curve. In the ensuing weeks, only the R&A has taken similar forward-thinking action by postponing the 149th British Open until July 2021. The PGA of America, U.S. Golf Association and PGA Tour continue to operate under the wishful thinking that the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and various Tour events can be played in 2021. Ditto for Augusta National Golf Club, which holds out hope that a November date for the Masters will be doable. (It’s noteworthy that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, unlike his counterparts in California and New York, resisted early shelter-in-place directives and recently displayed a commerce-over-citizens’-health predilection by opening his state’s beaches against the wishes of local governments.)

The IOC, of course, had to consider the needs of many more sports than golf. While it may have dilly-dallied for several weeks, it ultimately concluded that a piecemeal attempt to salvage Tokyo 2020 would have been futile. International sports federations welcomed the schedule clarity, but the IGF still finds itself at the mercy of various pro tours hoping to rescue some portion of their 2020 seasons.

“Now that we know the new dates, we will work to finalize the qualification system for the Tokyo Games and adapt all our operational plans accordingly,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon’s positive outlook in a bleak time highlights how you’d hope an executive would think. That’s a nice way of saying he appears to have grasped reality and is thinking how to properly position golf when the time is right.

"It was the world’s athletes who forced Bach’s hand"

Christine Brennan, who broke news of the Tokyo Olympics postponement finally arriving, notes that it was the athletes who ultimately forced the loathsome IOC to understand what the rest of the world was experiencing, expecting and in the cases of Canada and Australia, forcing.

The athletes of the world needed Bach, once an Olympic athlete himself, a gold-medal-winning fencer from Germany, to be a leader at this crucial moment in history. What they found instead was a man who failed to rise to the challenge of the moment, who failed to understand that answers and empathy were essential, who chose a “business as usual, the Games must go on” stance when that became absolutely the worst possible position to take.

Some day, when things return to normal, we can look back on this latest hiccup for the Olympic movement and consider how golf best fits going forward. But for now, at least, we no longer have to see speculation about who will make teams or worry about the preparation being hampered and instead focus on those in need.

Deja Vu All Over Again? DJ First Star To Bow Out Of Tokyo 2020

Dustin Johnson’s intention to devote himself to the Playoffs(C) suggests defections will become a focus of the Olympic Games build-up. Again.

Last time it was Zika virus, this time if may be the Coronavirus. Or, in Johnson’s case, Playoff Fever.

From Eamon Lynch’s exclusive, Johnson agent David Winkle confirmed the Tokyo 2020 defection:

“At the end of the day, it’s a matter of personal preference and priority. As much as he would be honored to be an Olympian, the FedEx Cup Playoffs are also very important to him. Having had a few close calls in the Playoffs, he really wants to win them before his time is done and feels that he wouldn’t be giving himself the best opportunity to do so if he added a lengthy international trip just prior to their beginning (and shortly after returning from two weeks in Europe).”

With Brooks Koepka on the fence and Tiger Woods signaling that his schedule will be very limited, the men’s portion of Olympic golf is staring down a no-show narrative. Again. And it’s only March.

Beyond the Olympics and possible pandemics, a rush of scheduling-based defections should warrant a condensed schedule reconsideration. At least, in Olympic years. Again.

We've Got A Taker! JT Vows To Play Olympics Under All Scenarios If He Qualifies

Finally a top male pro golfers is vowing to play Tokyo, one who is currently qualified and based on recent play seems destined to make it.

Will Gray on Justin Thomas, sending a different message than Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson this week about turning up at the 2020 Olympic Games.

“There’s no scenario for me (to skip the Olympics if qualified),” Thomas said. “It’s just different. It’s once in every four years, and you have the opportunity to do it.”

Now just need to get this awful coronavirus under wraps and all should be fine.

Dustin Johnson Wonders If Olympic Golf Will Fit His Schedule

Currently easily in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games based on his No. 5 world ranking position, Dustin Johnson wondered aloud if the event falling 11 days after The Open Championship will fit his schedule.

OlympicTalk at NBCSports.com reports on Johnson’s comments ahead of his appearance in Saudi Arabia this week.

“Obviously representing the United States in the Olympics is something that, you know, definitely be proud to do,” he said when asked if the Ryder Cup and the Olympics are goals this year. “But is it going to fit in the schedule properly? I’m not really sure about that, because there’s so many events that are right there and leading up to it. So you know, I’m still working with my team to figure out what’s the best thing for me to do.”

Would Someone Sit To Get Tiger To The Tokyo Games?

That’s the question posed by Karen Crouse, looking ahead to the 2020 Olympic Games and Tiger’s spot just outside the final qualifying number (four Americans inside the top 15…he’s fifth).

With the money at stake and possibility this is the last chance for Woods to qualify due to playing less and accumulating more World Ranking points, could one of the four before him opt-out for the good of the games?

At the 2004 Australian swimming trials, the superstar Ian Thorpe, the world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion in the 400-meter freestyle, was disqualified from his heat for a false start after he lost his balance on the blocks and fell into the water. The top two finishers in the final qualified for the Athens Games, and scores of Australians soon were publicly calling on Craig Stevens, the runner-up, to relinquish his spot to Thorpe.

There was no danger that Stevens or Thorpe would miss the Games; both had qualified in other events. But a month later, during a televised interview for which he was paid a six-figure sum, Stevens announced that he was ceding his spot in the 400 freestyle to Thorpe, who went on to successfully defend his Olympic title.

For the moment, Woods still controls his fate. After his victory last year at the Masters, he described the Olympics as “a big goal,” but he admitted “getting there and making the team is going to be the tough part.”

And without Woods this time around, the Olympic men’s competition will be a tougher sell. In 2016, there was the novelty of golf’s return and a venue built for the Games. This time, they arrive on the heels of the last major, are playing well outside of Tokyo where temperatures are expected to make things miserable, and are playing a country club course that hardly screams inclusivity. Oh, and the format is flat on arrival.

The 2020 Olympic Golf Projected Field...

…which would not include Tiger Woods by this assessment.

Maybe because Rio offered the first Olympic golf in over a hundred years, the run-up featured far more coverage than the upcoming Tokyo 2020 golf. Or maybe there just isn’t much interest in golf at the next Games because the unimaginative format remains. Anyway…

Courtesy of Twitter’s mysterious Nosferatu, here is the field as it stands currently, though many significant tournaments will be played between now and then.

The #OlympicGolf Top 60 projection for @Tokyo2020 as of 11-Nov-19 (based on #OWGR projection for 22-Jun-2020).

Two Austrians on the first page! 🇦🇹🇦🇹@BenHebertGolf replaces Langasque for 🇫🇷@shubhankargolf moves in to double India's presence 🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/DtX4nvaFjt

— Nosferatu (@VC606) November 12, 2019

"Tokyo 2020 golf must be moved because of heat, politician tells IOC"

Reuters’ Andrew Both obtained a letter that “well-known” Japanese politician Shigefumi Matsuzawa has written to the IOC calling for the 2020 Olympic golf venue—Kasumigaseki—changed due to the likelihood of deadly heat waves.

Matsuzawa said his concern was not only for the golfers but for volunteers and spectators without clubhouse access who, he wrote, would have nowhere to escape the heat and humidity.

The average temperature over the past three years during the scheduled competition dates -- July 30 to Aug. 2 for men and Aug. 5 to 8 for women -- had been 31.7 degrees Celsius (89F), he wrote.

Extrapolating from past figures, Matsuzawa estimated that up to 1,250 people could suffer from heat stroke during the eight days of the golf competition.

"Ambulances and hospitals will be unable to cope and with heat stroke patients collapsing one after the other, the possibility of fatalities occurring cannot be ruled out," he added.

Matsuzawa recommended several possible replacement venues, including Wakasu Golf Links adjacent to Tokyo Bay or the mountain regions of Hakone and Nagano. Wakasu has been mentioned before and appears to lack the yardage or practice facilities necessary today.

The IOC recently moved the Olympic marathons because of heat concerns and is facing criticism from Tokyo’s mayor.

Rory Signals Intent To Play For Ireland In 2020 Olympics, Do Many Care Like They Did Four Years Ago?

It was a neverending, bizarre and unfortunate chapter in Rory McIlroy’s career: having to decide between Ireland and Great Britain for 2016 Rio games representation. With the Zika virus a concern and most golfers largely apathetic toward the Olympic movement, he ultimately chose not to play.

Four years later he’s near Tokyo and the 2020 Games are less than a year away, with no Zika and a golf-crazy country welcoming the players, and McIlroy has declared his intent to represent Ireland should he qualify.

Rex Hoggard with that news for GolfChannel.com.

More interesting will be the reaction to his decision given how inflammatory the topic was four years ago. So far, the topic seems like old news and not particularly intriguing to most. Is that a product of the old debate, Brexit distractions, or overall Olympic golf apathy?

ZZZZ: Olympic Golf Format To Remain Same In 2020

Great to see golf's leaders are still entrenched deep in their imagination black hole!

This is hardly surprising but it is a wonderful reminder that if golf can take the boring route, it will. Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com reports that players have been informed of 2020's Olympic golf plans and they look at lot like 2016's bland format.

According to a memo sent to PGA Tour players, the qualification process begins on July 1, 2018, and will end on June 22, 2020, for the men, with the top 59 players from the Olympic Golf Rankings, which is drawn from the Official World Golf Ranking, earning a spot in Tokyo (the host country is assured a spot in the 60-player field). The women’s qualification process begins on July 8, 2018, and ends on June 29, 2020.

The format, 72-holes of individual stroke play, for the ’20 Games will also remain unchanged.

A Proper Obituary For America's First Women's Olympic Champion (Who Happened To Win In Golf)

Thanks to all who sent in the New York Times special project to document and properly memorialize the lives of 15 women on International Women's Day.

The package kicks off with a remembrance of Margaret Abbott, America's first Olympic champion who happened to win at the Paris golf competition in 1900.

But even up to her death, Abbott was not aware that she is officially America's first female Olympic champ, writes Margalit Fox:

Though men’s and women’s golf appear to have been earmarked as Olympic events from the beginning, Welch said, few competitors seem to have realized the fact.

Abbott apparently thought that she was playing in a small, self-contained tournament, held at a course in Compiègne, some 50 miles north of Paris. She had entered it simply because she played golf and happened to be in France.

“They were calling it ‘Exposition Competition,’ ‘Paris World’s Fair Competition,’” Welch explained. “Because ‘Olympics’ wasn’t attached to it, she didn’t know.”

They're Playing Pro Golf At The Rio Olympic Course And It Looks A Lot Better Than Abandoned!

Declared abandoned, in disrepair, unsustainable and many other things thanks to its rustic appearance or lack of suitable activity in one opponent's eyes, the Rio Olympic golf course hosts the PGA Tour Latinoamerica this week.

The 64th playing of the Aberto do Brasil is the 13th of 18 PGA Tour Latinoamerica events and includes several intriguing players, including the world's top-ranked amateur last year, Joaquin Niemann.

The list of past champions includes Sam Snead, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin Roberto De Vicenzo.

Players have been Tweeting, including these from Tee-k Kelly (thanks Jeremy Schilling for spotting):

They're still trying to drive near the 9th green and the condos are completed:

Aberto do Brasil 🇧🇷 #pgatourla

A post shared by Rodo Cazaubon (@rodocazaubon) on Oct 11, 2017 at 1:19pm PDT

And the wildlife is still sensational:

Essa é mais uma das belas fotografias do livro "O Legado das Areias - Uma Paisagem Recuperada" que está a venda nas livrarias Argumento , Cultura e Livraria da Travessa. Foto: @luizareisfotografia -------------------------------------------- #OLegadodasAreias #campodegolfe #campoolímpicodegolfe #coruja #owl #corujas #macro #macrophotography #natgeo #nationalgeographic #nature #natureza #golfeolímpico #golfchannel #golfeolimpico

A post shared by Campo Olímpico de Golfe (@campoolimpicodegolfe) on Sep 29, 2017 at 6:39am PDT

Resultado do esforço estratégico de preservação e recuperação da população de capivaras no Campo Olímpico de Golfe. Essa é mais uma foto do livro O Legado das Areias - Registro de Uma Paisagem Recuperada que você pode comprar no nosso Club House. 🍃 Foto:@luizareisfotografia -------------------------------------------- #capivara #capivaras #família #natgeo #nationalgeographic #nature #campodegolfe #rio2016 #olegadodasareias #campoolímpicodegolfe #campodegolfeolímpico

A post shared by Campo Olímpico de Golfe (@campoolimpicodegolfe) on Aug 10, 2017 at 3:47am PDT

Paris & LA Olympic Golf Venues Bring Stability And...No Buzz

With the finalization of Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games and Los Angeles for 2028, Rex Hoggard writes at GolfChannel.com that the penciling in of proven tournament venues is a good thing.

While Rio was a unique success story, for vastly different reasons, consider the game’s best going head-to-head on a course in Versailles just minutes outside of Paris’ city center, or at Riviera, which is wedged between San Vicente Road and Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood (In a related note to 2028 athletes: traffic could be an issue).

It’s always the play on the field that makes a competition special, but having fields with established reputations and proven logistics can only enhance an event that exceeded many expectations in ’16.

While there is certainly something to be said for going to the home of annual European and PGA Tour events, there is also a case to be made that the Olympic golf will fizzle on the back of lackluster formats and been there-done that venues. Particularly if both courses host tour events the year of the Games.

Yes, Rio was difficult and caused headaches, there was a hoped-for payoff that showed the world a new venue with sustainability elements and wildlife diversity bringing added attention. To this day, some still don't get this, but for all of those point-missers there were many who saw golf in a fresh light.

With no venue cache for the next two golf events in the Games--three if the sport survives beyond 2024--tweaks to the format had better be really, really good.

Rio A Year Later And Golf's Place In The Games

Rex Hoggard filed a series of one-year-later GolfChannel.com stories and accompanying video report (below) on golf's Rio return. He looks at the state of the course, the increased funding in developing countries and the long term plans for the Rio course.

Some of the images of decaying venues are hard to see knowing that a year ago such joyful and memorable competitions were taking place, but it's a tribute to the new Rio course CEO Mario Galvo that Gil Hanse's creation is alive and well.

Here is Hoggard's story on the course, including this...

An Agence France-Presse report last November described a layout overgrown with natural vegetation and nearly devoid of players. But as the anniversary of that historic hand-over passes it appears the rumors of the layout’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

“The visions of an Olympic course that was going to be overgrown and left to waste didn’t occur. There seems to be a genuine desire to create white elephants when the Olympics are over,” says Mark Lawrie, the R&A’s director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In April, when Lawrie returned to the Rio course, he found a much different reality. Although he admits the volume of play hasn’t been what officials hoped for, the course itself remains playable with conditions Galvão contends are better than what the world’s best competed on for medals a year ago.

This, for those inspired by Aditi Ashok's play last year in Rio, will serve as a statement backing what IGF organizers hoped would happen.

“Prior to golf coming back to the Olympics, there was very little that the [Indian Golf Union] got from the sports ministry in India,” said Dilip Thomas, the executive vice chairman of the Indian Golf Union. “Golf was also categorized as an elite sport and supposedly played by wealthy people. After the Olympics and following Aditi's performance in the early part of the event, the Indian government has started to look at golf through different eyes and now consider it to be a medal prospect for the country in the future.”

But if Ashok’s impact on golf in India, where an estimated 1 in 10,000 people play the game, was predictable, a year removed from Olympic golf’s return, it has resonated beyond the Rio leaderboard.

In underdeveloped golf countries the Olympics provided a unique opportunity to educate the public, which a recent International Golf Federation study suggests goes beyond the reach of even the game’s majors and other marquee events, as well as a chance to leverage the game’s newfound status as an Olympic sport.

The video piece with interviews from key figures a year later: