AP: "Golf will be in the Olympics, thanks to one of the most misguided decisions in the history of the games."
/Tim Dahlberg previews the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Golf's return merits a mention at the end of the story. Unfortunately, due to the 72-hole stroke play format, Dahlberg's assessment is brutal.
Yes, golf will be in the Olympics, thanks to one of the most misguided decisions in the history of the games. There's nothing special about golf's best players getting together for a big tournament, because they do it probably 10 times a year and already compete for their country in the Ryder and President cups. Expect Woods to drape himself in an American flag to take on the best from Northern Ireland and England while Vijay Singh tries to win gold for Fiji in what could be the dullest competition of the games. That's assuming they ever get the Olympic golf course - which has been plagued by delays - built in Rio.
Meanwhile as Shane Bacon points out, there is going to be an educational process based on the Rio organizers' definition of golf on the official Olympic site:
The athletes compete individually on grass fields that have different configurations. There are varied Golf courses leading to holes with orange-size diameter. The goal is to roll the ball into the hole with the fewer number of strikes as possible.
**There was an uncharacteristically benign Golf Channel discussion featuring Brandel Chamblee, Rich Lerner and Frank Nobilo about Rio and the Olympics. They stayed away from the format and the only real highlight is a never-before-seen video clip of Gil Hanse giving his winning presentation to the committee.
