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 These are among the wide ranging responses from top players as they
prepare for golf's return to the Olympics at next year's Rio Summer
Games after an absence of more than a century, a return embraced by
many and panned by others.
For backers, the prospect of golfers walking beside swimmers and
athletes at the opening ceremonies in Rio is an intoxicating one but
critics argue that golf, like tennis, already has its four blue
riband events and should not be an Olympic sport.
Those critics firmly believe that golf's major championships and the
grand slams in tennis represent the pinnacle of achievement in their
respective sports and that the allure of an Olympic medal would
always rank lower.
American golfer Matt Kuchar, a seven-times winner on the PGA Tour
who has played amateur tennis at a high level, expressed mixed
feelings about the impact of his sport's return to the Olympics.
"Most of the Olympic sports have their 'big event' either once every
four years – at the Summer Games -- or once every two years with the
World Cups and world championships that go on," Kuchar told Reuters.
"In the golf world and the tennis world, we have our four majors and
our four grand slams every year, and then every other week there is
a big event going on with major attention.
"So historically you would say, 'Gosh, I want to win the Masters or
I want to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Opens, the British Opens that
players really gear up to.' The fact that we have an event every
week, the Olympics will be another event."
However, Kuchar felt it would be very difficult to rank a major
championship victory over an Olympic gold medal without ever
experiencing the "uniquely special" atmosphere of a Summer Games.
"It's hard to say without being there in the moment," said the
37-year-old, who has represented the U.S. a combined six times at
the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and twice at the two-man World Cup
of Golf.
"Once you get there, there's always something special about
representing your country. You always get goose bumps when you see
the American flag that you are playing for ... it's uniquely
special, it gets your attention more so than normal.
"For the fact that this is going to be the first time in over a
hundred years for golf to be played at the Olympics, we will
certainly be awfully excited. But would you rather win one of the
majors or an Olympic medal? I don't know exactly."
WARM EMBRACE
Golf most recently featured as an Olympic sport in St Louis in 1904
and leading players such as American world number one Jordan Spieth
and fifth-ranked Swede Henrik Stenson have warmly embraced its
return to the Games agenda.
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"When I was really young, I always thought of the Olympians that
walked in the opening ceremonies as the
greatest-athletes-in-the-world type of thing," said Masters and U.S.
Open champion Spieth.
"But once I chose golf, I didn't think it would ever be a reality.
To be one of those athletes ... I would never forget that ceremony
and that walk, walking with the American flag ... it will be awesome
if I can make that team."
Sixty players will compete over 72 holes of strokeplay in both the
men's and women's events in Rio. Golfers in the top 15 of the world
rankings will automatically be eligible, although no more than four
players from any one country can take part.
Stenson, a nine-times winner on the European Tour, told Reuters: "I
see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the
Olympics.
"It's a cool event and, given my age, it could be the only chance I
have. I think I'd stay in the (Olympic) village, to get the feel of
it. That would elevate the experience."
Former world number one Adam Scott of Australia has an opposing
viewpoint, and believes the focus of the Olympics should be on
sports where winning a gold medal is the pinnacle, not an
afterthought.
"Whether I win an Olympic medal or not is not going to define my
career or change whether I've fulfilled my career," Scott told
Reuters. "For me, it's all about the four majors and I think that's
the way it should stay for golf.
"To go and play an exhibition event down there (in Rio) ... in the
middle of the major (golf) season, I don't think any other athletes
in their sport would do that.
"Most of the athletes at the Olympics have probably trained four
years specifically to peak at this one event. It's the pinnacle of
their sport ... (golf) doesn't need to be in the Olympics."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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