Olympic Golf Fever Is...Not There Yet

Axios survey

Take that, sport climbing! And water polo!

As the Tokyo games teeter on the verge of a superspreader event, they feel more like a money grab than ever. So it’s a challenge to focus on the incredible athletes and their quests.

In the case of golf, Americans seem to have only scant interest in the WGC Kasumigaseki according to an Axios/Morning Study survey of fans. Thanks to reader John for highlighting Jeff Tracy’s write up of the results which has Golf trailing almost everything in terms of fan interest.

As for the golfers, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau reiterated their passion for representing Team USA next week, while Rory McIlroy is sounding increasingly annoyed he said yes. From Carl Markham’s Independent report:

"I am looking forward to getting another week's golf in and trying to get my game in shape. There's not much else to do there - so with 12 hours at the golf course hopefully I get my game into better shape.”

Boom! Kind of a long way to go to practice. But then he put on his Vice Commissioner’s hat.

"I'm not a very patriotic guy, I'm doing it because I think it is the right thing to do.”

Go Team Ireland! The visual version of these comments backed up what appeared in print.

Meanwhile the International Golf Federation charged with shaping golf’s inclusion in the Games is sending President Annika Sorenstam to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Growing the game!

IGF Finalizes Olympic Fields, Touts Younger "Gender-Neutral Audience"

Fields have been confirmed for Olympic Games golf competitions and you can see them here. On the men’s side, just 28 of the 60 players are inside the Official World Golf Ranking top 100.

The women’s field of 60 features 36 players inside the Rolex Ranking top 100.

In making the announcement, International Golf Federation president Annika Sorenstam was able to pry away from her busy American Century Championship preparations and social media whitewashing to issue a very organic quote.

“We are extremely pleased with the strength and diversity of both the men’s and women’s fields, which reflect the continued growth and popularity of golf,” said Annika Sorenstam, President of the International Golf Federation, which oversees the Olympic golf competition. “We have such wonderful storylines to share, be it Jon Rahm and Nelly Korda both winning major championships in the final week of qualifying to become the No. 1 players in the world, or the variety of lesser known but equally inspiring stories of Olympic athletes representing their respective countries.”

Sorenstam is scheduled to play the U.S. Senior Women’s Open the same week as the Olympic Men’s competition. Maybe she’ll track the storylines from the course.

If there was any doubt that Olympics is all about the money, look no further than the release touting numbers only advertisers care about.

Golf is looking to build upon the success of its return as an Olympic sport at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after an absence of more than 100 years, when it achieved significant numbers internationally and was watched by a younger, more gender-neutral audience than that generally achieved for professional golf events. In fact, golf finished as the seventh most popular sport in Rio in terms of fan engagements around the world.

I presume gender neutral was meant to be a way of saying more women watched than normal. Maybe the IGF could just say that?

Olympic Women's Golf Field Set With Few High Profile Defections

The Kordas will represent Team USA in Tokyo along with Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang

Once again the world’s best women are more on board with Olympic golf, though seeing both the U.S. and South Korea getting four players in does make me wonder what might have been if the field was a stroke play/team match play format like the NCAA golf.

The host country will be represented by Nasa Hataoka and Mone Inami.

Beth Ann Nichols with the notes and the photo gallery of the entire field.

England’s Georgia Hall and Charley Hull were the highest profile players to pass. Hull’s explanation on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charley Hull (@charley.hull)

More Men's Olympic WD's: Sergio, Tyrrell, Louis

The field for the mens' @OlympicGolf event has been confirmed 🥇🥈🥉 pic.twitter.com/ra06JcIiCw

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) June 22, 2021

While Zika was a convenient excuse, COVID-19 remains a threat, particularly to the unvaccinated. And those who have taken the jab still face absurd restrictions that nullifies everything about the Olympic “experience".

So far, no eligible player has pulled out due to safety fears. Instead it’s been mostly about the schedule, majors, Ryder Cup and of course, resting for the playoffs.

Before analyzing the angles of WD attack, this is just your friendly Tuesday reminder that the PGA Tour rebuilt the men’s pro golf schedule into a tighter window for the FedExCup Playoffs, the Olympics and the NFL season. The PGA moved to May and the major season still feels too condensed, with the U.S. Open build-up feeling less robust compared to the past.

Now, only one of those three wraparound reasons appears a legitimate rationale at this point (NFL…).

Anyway, who says these guys aren’t creative? We’ve got Olympic WD’s for all sorts of reasons, starting with Sergio turning his focus to the Ryder Cup.

🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/11a3MsXJe5

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) June 22, 2021

The next eligible Spaniard is Rafa Cabrera Bello, currently ranked 140th in the world.

Next up is world No. 10 Tyrrell Hatton, who blames the congested schedule that is definitely congested.

Some news. pic.twitter.com/DtLJlRXZdD

— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) June 22, 2021

Hatton’s replacement would normally be Matthew Fitzpatrick, but reports suggest he’s already telegraphed his intention to pass. Lee Westwood would then be next but he’s already said he would not play. Next on the clock with the fifth round pick for Team England is Tommy Fleetwood.

Louis Oosthuizen is passing up a chance to represent Team South Africa to spend more time witht he family and play the FedExCup season (get that man a Playoff(C) memo).

1/2 Qualifying for the Olympics is a humbling accomplishment and there’s no greater honor than representing your country, so it has been a very difficult decision for me, my team and my family to withdraw from playing in Tokyo. I am focused on finishing a strong Fed Ex Cup season

— Louis Oosthuizen (@Louis57TM) June 22, 2021

2/2 in the States, in addition to honoring family commitments with the new life we are building at the farm. Family has always been my core and this is the best decision for us at this time in our lives. My best are with the South Africans competing. We will be cheering you on!

— Louis Oosthuizen (@Louis57TM) June 22, 2021

This presumably opens up a spot for Christian Bezuidenhout to join Garrick Higgo in Tokyo.

Before these latest WD’s on Twitter, G.C. Digital had the scoop on the field yesterday. Impressive, that kid.

Actually, the final rankings already knew these players were pulling out before they took to Twitter. Here is the “final” list.

Men's Olympic Golf Field Finalized, For Now

You can view the full list here at GolfNewsNet.

Slovakian great Rory Sabbatini is in easily and that has to be a huge sigh of relief in those parts.

Whether all of these players go is another story.

Xander Schauffele after his U.S. Open final round:

Q. Secondly, I'm assuming you're going to go to the Olympics since you're qualified. Is that true?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: That is a decision -- my goal was to try to win this. I haven't really reached. I knew I had to try and qualify for the team. It was getting really bunched up with everyone behind me. I haven't really made a decision yet. It's something I was going to decide tonight or tomorrow morning.

Q. What would keep you away if you decide not to go?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Logistics are tricky. There's no opening ceremony, no experience of Japan. You're kind of locked down in your hotel. You can't go and see other venues or events. In terms of an actual Olympics, obviously, you're playing for some hardware, some gold medals and what not, but the overall experience, which I hear is really cool, isn't going to be there in Japan this year.

Fun!

The NCAA's Format Would Work Too Well For The Olympics

Tee marker from Rio 2016 (Geoff Shackelford)

Format suggestions are always risky since the powers in golf adhere to the ABWMS system (Anything But What Media Suggests). Their devotion to this approach is how we get FedExCup leaders starting at -10 or two boring individual stroke play events at the Olympics.

The last two weeks of NCAA golf provide an obvious and brilliant way to deliver a stroke play winner and seed teams for match play. It is the rare made-for-TV event also determining a champion in fitting fashion.

An offshoot of the NCAA approach would still get players into the Games who are good enough but might come from a developing country, while including team match play to show off the most dramatic form of golf (growing the game!).

According to IGF officials who deal with the IOC, format constraints consist of Olympic Village bed availability and whether stroke play alternatives are recognized within the sport as a significant championship format.

Those two questions are now easily answered after the Rio Games: most golfers would prefer not to stay in the Olympic Village (in normal or COVID times) and the NCAA format is established to determine significant titles on the line. (The PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and European Tour should be using their “alliance” to devise similar events as sort of a mini-Ryder Cup played by nationality or corporate alliance, which would also be a handy way to push back disruptor tour proposals.)

Here is one Olympics-friendly adjustment of the NCAA format:

• Invite players for a 54-hole stroke play event based on world ranking as they do now, but expand to include players eligible for the team component, up to ten eligible five-player teams and eligible individuals (as we have with the current system). This means we’d be watching the world rankings to see which teams will get into the Games in a fun, side race for Olympic eligibility. Currently there is almost no interest in the who-makes-the-Games race.

• After the individual stroke play results are in and medals awarded, the team event will be whittled to eight and seeded by scores. Two countries will not make match play based on the medal competition.

• Team matches of five players per team are contested over two days, starting with a 36-hole day that eliminates four teams. This means a max of six competition days for the final four teams (assuming a bronze medal match, which the NCAA does not do).

The college golf format would work for both men and women, though I’d love to hear twists on how to consider it for a mixed team format. You could theoretically combine the teams into one of five men and five women, but there is something to the simplicity of the NCAA’s approach worth learning from. And we all know by now that team match play provides more drama and school pride. Throw in nationalities with Olympic medals on the line, and you have the makings of a thrilling competition. At least, in normal times.

Westwood On Olympic Golf: "They didn't quite get the format right or the players that play in it right and the qualification right."

Lee Westwood has an outside shot at making England’s Olympic golf team and surprised media assembled at Kiawah Island by revealing he’s already given notice of his intent to pass on Tokyo.

The reason? Too much golf at that time of year.

Many, many reasons. I have a few family commitments,and I already proved a few weeks ago that playing seven in eight weeks is not good for me. And there's already a lot of tournaments crammed in around there, Scottish Open, Open Championship. I need a couple of weeks off between there and the FedEx in Memphis. Then there's only another week off and I could be playing three FedExCup events, the PGA, a week off, then the Ryder Cup. I want to be in good shape for all of those. I think going to Japan the week before Memphis, just with all that going on, is a bad idea, especially when I can't say whether I'm in it at the moment anyway.

I'm of an age where I need to make a plan and stick to that going forward, else my game suffers.

And then he offered this on the format:

LEE WESTWOOD: I know why they brought the Olympics to golf, and I'm all for that. It's taking it to another audience, and obviously the funding from the Olympic committee feeds down through golf, which is great.I just feel like maybe they didn't quite get the format right or the players that play in it right and the qualification right.

Tokyo Olympics Issues Make The Experience Sound Pretty Pointless

To be clear: Jon Rahm really wants to play the Olympics and calls it a dream.

But prior to his AT&T Byron Nelson appearance this week he explained why players are going to be passing on the Games. And the issues go beyond money or timing or format.

From Golfweek’s Adam Schupak’s story about Rahm and his remarks:

“The Olympic committee are not making it very easy for us to choose it, simply because up until not too long ago we couldn’t go to our site or tournament hotel until Wednesday and we had to stay in the Olympic Village until then,” he said. “As I understand from what I been told there is at least one- to two-hour drive to the golf course. That’s a lot of time to be in the car going to and coming back from the Olympic Village, and then you can only go to the hotel on Wednesday. Your family is not allowed. You’re not allowed to go to any other events. There are just so many restrictions.”

Rahm left out that most feel the Tokyo venue might feel hotter than Memphis in July, making Memphis in July suddenly appealing.

Today In Olympic Passes: Danny Lee Needs To Keep His Tour Card And He's Not Wrong

As Tokyo 2020/21 approaches I must say Danny Lee’s excuse for choosing to not represent New Zealand is perfectly rational: he needs to stick to PGA Tour golf if he’d like to keep his card.

I still expect the excuses to get more creative, but Lee let Golf New Zealand break the news. They probably went a tad far with the whole careful thought and much deliberation stuff, as quoted in this Reuters story:

Lee, who finished 27th at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is currently 192nd in the PGA Tour rankings and needs to finish within the top 125 by the end of August to retain his playing rights for next season.

The South Korean-born 30-year-old has missed eight cuts in 16 events and collected only two top 25 finishes this season. He finished 21st at the Valspar Championship in Florida on Sunday.

"After careful thought and much deliberation, New Zealand's Danny Lee has made the tough decision to make himself unavailable for selection for the Tokyo Olympic Games," a Golf New Zealand statement said.

Of course if the PGA Tour’s wraparound schedule didn’t have to end in late August, the Olympics might not be so inconveniently situated on player schedules.

Tracking Tokyo Olympics Excuses, Adam Scott Edition

The best men’s 2021 Olympic competition this year may be found in the build-up to the Tokyo Games.

Best excuse by a player definitely eligible? And worst.

Best pretzel logic to justify passing?

Best use of family over country?

Best use of a virus or disease to not go?

You get the idea.

Dustin Johnson is the current clubhouse leader with “It’s a long way to travel” and “important for me to feel like I’m focused playing on the PGA Tour.” No chance those hold up for an award.

Adam Scott entered the equation with his inevitable pass, but in a twist the committees must study, Scott’s agent Johan Elliot did the talking. Rex Hoggard with the Australian’s rationale for passing up on the Olympics:

“With the world being the way it is, Adam is gone 4-5 weeks at a time this year during his playing blocks,” Elliot said in a statement to GolfChannel.com. “With three young children at home, this time in the schedule will be devoted to family. It is pretty much the only time up until October when he has a chance to see them for a stretch of time and not only a few days/a week.”

Short version: he’s wants to be with his kids.

Much more fun would have been: he needs to rest after The Open before he makes a 2021 Playoff and Meltwater Mentions push.

"Golf has about as much place in the Olympic Games as competitive eating"

There will be many columns like this heading into Tokyo where the field may be missing a lot of top players.

Building off Dustin Johnson’s decision to pass, Gavin Newsham writes a New York Post commentary on golf’s inclusion in the Olympic Games. After explaining the return, he writes:

In golf, the world’s best play each other all the time; in the majors, in the World Golf Championship events and then pretty much every week on tour. In that respect, Olympic soccer and tennis can make way for events that would benefit from being in the Olympics, like squash or lacrosse. And as for rugby — really? 

Of course, if the IOC wanted to, it could simply make golf revert to the original ethos of the Games by making the event strictly for amateur players, giving those up-and-coming players that rarest of opportunities to represent their country in the Olympics. 

Failing that, they could look at their famous Olympic motto — “Faster, Higher, Stronger” — and ask whether golf really ticks any of those boxes. 

As even a less-than-thrilling WGC just proved, match play should have been the format.

And as any of the team events remind us, they’re almost always better than 72-holes of stroke play. They also lead to peer pressure to play, something the organizers might want to think about for the golf in the Games.

World Champions Cup: Three Six-Man Teams, Nine Hole Matches

It’s always been mysterious how rarely the Champions Tour is used as a format incubator of sorts. The old guys are just happy to be upright, out of the house and maybe still playing like they did 20 years ago. They’re open to fresh formats and whatever it takes to keep the product going.

So news of the World Champions Cup debuting this November intrigues as much on the format. Particularly as Olympic golf, which desperately needed to be a team event to “grow the game” and is instead looking increasingly doomed by relying on individuals.

Could this format be a test run? Likely not, but it has merits for those hoping golf figures out a better and more captivating way to approach Olympic golf. For Immediate Release:

World Champions Cup set to debut in 2022, featuring major champions, Hall of Famers and legends of the game squaring off in a first-of-its-kind international team golf competition  

Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Darren Clarke on board to captain Team USA, Team World and Team Europe, respectively, in the first playing of the new annual competition

 CHICAGO (MARCH 16, 2021) – A unique and exciting new professional golf competition is ready to take the world stage, as sports media and marketing firm Intersport announced today the creation of the World Champions Cup, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2022.

Inspired by the passion and tradition of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the World Champions Cup will be a first-of-its-kind golf tournament featuring Team USA, Team Europe and Team World squaring off over three days of competition that will renew some of the game’s most storied rivalries as the teams battle for international pride and global bragging rights.

World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els, 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and 2011 The Open champion Darren Clarke will each serve as playing captains for their respective teams of six competitors, all aged 50 and older, in the first playing of the World Champions Cup. Seven-time PGA TOUR winner and popular golf commentator Peter Jacobsen will serve as Chairman of the inaugural event.

“This is a truly exciting day for golf fans and for all of us who love the game,” said Charles N. Besser, Chairman and CEO of Intersport. “Our team at Intersport has invested a significant amount of time and effort into developing this concept. The World Champions Cup is a continuation of Intersport’s history of launching significant new events that endure for decades. We are confident that the World Champions Cup will renew golf’s legendary rivalries on a global stage while bringing innovation to the game we love. We can’t wait to tee off in 2022.”

Intersport has been creating award-winning sports and entertainment-based marketing platforms since 1985. In addition to launching and operating the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, which, in its inaugural year, was the TOUR’s most awarded event on the 2018-19 schedule, Intersport is an Emmy Award winner and owns and operates nearly a dozen nationally televised sports properties.

The World Champions Cup is sanctioned by the PGA TOUR. The annual three-team, three-day match play competition will be held at one of America’s great golf courses and will be contested across twice-daily, nine-hole matches featuring team formats and singles play, with points being earned for each hole won in each match. When the three-day competition concludes, the team with the highest point total across all matches will be crowned the champion. 

“We are excited to add this global event to the golf calendar starting in 2022 and are appreciative of Intersport’s passion to begin a new world-wide golf tradition,” said Miller Brady, President of PGA TOUR Champions. “The World Champions Cup will give golf fans the opportunity to see the game’s greatest players come together in a team format on the world’s biggest stage. International team events are some of the most significant competitions in our game and it will be fun to see Ernie, Jim and Darren, along with their teammates, compete for the inaugural World Champions Cup next year.”

Intersport is currently engaged in preliminary conversations with potential media partners, title sponsors, and host courses.

Els, a native of South Africa, will captain Team World. The former World No. 1 player, elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, boasts a resume that includes 19 PGA TOUR victories and 47 international wins. The biggest among those are his two U.S. Open titles (1994 and 1997) and his two wins a full decade apart at The Open (2002, 2012). The Big Easy has been a member of eight Presidents Cup teams and captained the International squad in 2019.

“International team golf events have provided me with some of my greatest golf memories,” Els said. “I have spent my career competing in global golf championships and supporting the growth of the game across the world. It’s a great honor to be named the captain of Team World for the inaugural World Champions Cup.” 

Furyk will captain Team USA. Throughout his career, Furyk has represented Team USA in seven Presidents Cups, nine Ryder Cups and served as a Ryder Cup captain in 2018. He is a 17-time winner on the PGA TOUR, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, and a two-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions. Furyk is also the owner of the lowest round in PGA TOUR history, having shot 58 in the fourth round of the Travelers Championship in 2016.

“I am excited to lead Team USA and recapture the great global team championships I have been fortunate enough to enjoy during my career,” Furyk said. “For more than 20 years, I have been competing against Ernie and Darren, and I look forward to having the chance to captain Team USA and play against them in the World Champions Cup.”

Clarke, a native of Northern Ireland, will captain Team Europe. He is most famous for his 2011 victory at The Open at Royal St. George’s, where he finished three strokes better than Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. A member of five Ryder Cup teams and the 2016 captain for Team Europe, Clarke’s resume includes victories at two PGA TOUR World Golf Championships events and two PGA TOUR Champions events, as well as 15 international wins.

“I am extremely proud to be named captain of Team Europe for the inaugural playing of the World Champions Cup,” Clarke said. “To be selected along with Jim and Ernie, two of golf’s all-time great players, is an honor. I have been fortunate to compete in many global team events, but I am as excited about captaining and playing in the World Champions Cup as I ever have been throughout my career.”

Jacobsen, the Chairman of the inaugural World Champions Cup, is a seven-time PGA TOUR winner, two-time PGA TOUR Champions winner and the 2004 U.S. Senior Open champion. A popular golf media personality for the past two decades, Jacobsen has established himself as one of the great ambassadors of golf. He represents everything a professional athlete and committed community leader should be. Throughout the years he has used his talents and status to transcend the game of golf and touch the lives of many.

“I have spent nearly all of my life playing, watching, talking and loving the game of golf,” Jacobsen said. “After nearly 40 years on the PGA TOUR, it is the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to represent something as significant as the World Champions Cup will one day be for golf.”

Additional information about the World Champions Cup is available atwww.WorldChampionsCup.com, on Twitter (@WorldChampsCup) and on Instagram (@WorldChampionsCup).

World No. 1 Is Passing On The Olympics (Again)

Last year Dustin Johnson signaled he would pass the Tokyo Olympics and men’s golf competition.

He has done so again for the postponed games, reports ESPN.com’s Bob Harig.

"It's right in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me, so that was the reason I was kind of waffling on it a little bit,'' Johnson said from the Players Championship, where he is out of contention. "It's a long way to travel, and I think the WGC [World Golf Championship event] is the week right after it. The British is a couple weeks before.

"It's a lot of traveling at a time where it's important to feel like I'm focused playing on the PGA Tour.''

He’s eager to get to Memphis in July, something you don’t hear every day.

Webb On Olympic Golf: "Going halfway around the world for that time frame in that part of our season is really tough"

There are 11 Americans in the OWGR top 15, guaranteeing four spots in the Tokyo Olympic golf this July.

While Webb Simpson is currently the 8th ranked American, the date, location and time of year make it possible he will get called upon should players ahead of him pass.

And sounds like he’ll be passing too:

Q. Where do you stand on the Olympics?

WEBB SIMPSON: Oh, that's a tough one. I think it would be an honor to represent the country. Nothing against the Olympics, but I'm personally more interested in trying to win majors, The Players Championship, the FedExCup than be a medalist in the Olympics. Part of it is exciting for me, but the thought of going halfway around the world for that time frame in that part of our season is really tough for me to swallow.

I haven't made any kind of mental decisions yet, but it would be a hard one for me to go to, knowing what's at stake here on the PGA Tour.

While his playoff-motivated answer will no doubt delight the Ponte Vedra crowd, having players this year saying they’ll chose the playoffs over Olympic glory will not help make golf’s case for staying in the Games.

Men’s Olympic golf is scheduled to start in Tokyo on July 29th, just 11 days after The Open Championship concludes.

Annika Says This Is No Comeback, But May Also Miss Tokyo Games As IGF President

Annika Sorenstam’s appearance at Gainbridge LPGA is a hometown stop for her and first on the LPGA Tour since 2008. She signaled this is no return, just preparation for this summer’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open according to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols.

However, as Brentley Romine notes for GolfChannel.com, that even coincides with week one of the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. Sorenstam is now president of the International Golf Federation which is primarily focused on one major initiative these days: golf in the Olympics.

Sorenstam says she has the IGF’s support in pursuing the Senior Open.

“Of course you're playing. We love having an active president,” Scanlon said to Sorenstam, according to Sorenstam, who added: “We're still working out the details.”

Sorenstam says a trip to Japan will be necessary at some point, depending on the travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, but she’s optimistic she’ll still be able to compete in the Senior Women’s Open while also maintaining her responsibilities to the IGF.

The IGF has also endorsed Sorenstam’s acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom the day after rioters stormed the Capital building following a Trump rally.

Video from that ceremony and interviews both the day of and later on has been posted today by Graham Bensinger. Sorenstam is seen leading the room in an impromptu standing ovation for Trump a day after the riots is at the 1:20 mark. In follow up chats with Sorenstam and husband Mike McGee, the latter expresses understanding at the outrage over Sorenstam accepting the medal that day in light of what happened.