Olympic Leaderboard Bunched: Medal Playoffs Could Be Exciting And Strange

Americans trying to stay awake for the men’s Olympic golf conclusion will be challenged by the lack of crowd energy, a soft and dull design, lethargic pace of play and a minimalist broadcast.

But, as Sean Zak notes for Golf.com, the bunched leaderboard means we could get some excitement.

Playoffs are coming … right? They have to be. This leaderboard is so bunched, it feels like we’ll have our first playoff for a medal, as there was none at the 2016 Games in Rio. How crazy is it that both men’s and women’s fields at the 2016 Olympics finished with a solo first, a solo second and a solo third place finisher?

With 27 players currently within five shots of third place, on a course where it has been difficult to create separation, we will almost surely see a playoff for a medal on Sunday. If it happens it’ll be sudden death, with the highest ranking medal up for grabs being decided first. The dream scenario? A four-way tie for first place.

This potentially wild scenario did not occur in Rio after the course magically separated the field and all medals were decided in regulation play.

Xander Schauffele (-14) currently leads by a stroke over 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (-13) in a rematch of their Masters duel in April, as Rex Hoggard explores for GolfChannel.com. They tee off at 11:09 am JST.

Seven players are within four and twelve are within five strokes of the lead.

Golf Channel goes live in the United States from Kasumigaseki Country Club beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the leading threesome going off a 10:09 p.m. ET.

Protestors Planning To Welcome Trump For Winged Foot's Celebration Of His Presidency

According to an NBC News report, Winged Foot members were already expecting security related disruptions when former President Donald Trump arrives August 4th for a celebration of his presidency.

Now, according to Abby Luby at The Examiner News, members arriving to the storied U.S. Open site that day can expect protestors. Leading one organizational effort is author and activist Amy Suskind, quoted in the story.

Pushback to Trump’s Winged Foot gala is expected, along with demonstrations in Briarcliff Manor the following day at an invitation-only Republican fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester. The event is charging an entry fee of $1,000 per person. A photo-op with Trump costs $5,000 a couple, and to take part in a reception, a roundtable, and a photo-op costs $25,000 per couple.

“Trump’s not welcome either place,” said Siskind, adding that organizing protests is not only happening in Briarcliff Manor and Mamaroneck, but she has heard people were upset and shocked by the Winged Foot Gala from as far away as Oregon and Massachusetts. “Organizing is getting underway — activism takes a few days to come together.”

Meanwhile, the club has deleted its Twitter account after news of the celebration was revealed by NBC News.

Greg Norman Moves To The Extreme Narcissism Phase Of His Design Career

Moving back to Sydney, Greg Norman is bringing an inflated sense of self and leaving proof in the ground. Mercifully he’s not going with a Mother Nature-inspired homage to his favorite attributes and instead is designing a course shaped like a shark. Get it. Like a Great White Shark.

From the Daily Mail on the deal inked with developer Dean Lukin Jr.:

With Norman's name attached, Mr Lukin Jr hopes to attract investors to the one-of-a-kind project, estimated to be cost between $600 - $700million.     

'I am very excited to have Greg Norman involved as I am hugely passionate about this beautiful region,' he said.

'There is nobody better than Greg in achieving an aesthetic, well-planned and creative golf course development.

I’d keep an eye on how he shapes the shark. That could go wrong in a lot of ways.

Report: No More Releases For Saudi Arabia Golf Events, DJ Intends To Defend Title

On the groundbreaking news of Jason Kokrak’s signing with Golf Saudi, his hopes of collecting an appearance fee may be in doubt. This comes after Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch confirms the PGA Tour and European Tour (once a proud partner of the Saudis way back in the spring of 2021), will not grant releases to play in 2022’s Royal Greens Classic. Or whatever they’ll be calling the old Bonesaw Open and former Euroepan Tour stop.

It’s a noble stand for human rights by the Tours and they should be appl…wait, what?

The move will be seen as an escalation in a battle for the future of professional golf that pits the PGA and European tours against the Saudi government, which has been pushing a Super Golf League concept that would lure elite players to a breakaway tour with guaranteed paydays of up to $30 million.

Asked to confirm that releases will not be given to players for the Saudi tournament, a PGA Tour spokesperson replied: “You are correct. This follows a PGA Tour longstanding policy of not granting releases to unsanctioned events.”

Oh right, the Super Golf League is now the competition.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson intends to play again and his agent David Winkle sounds displeased with the news.

“However, given that Dustin has played in the event the past three years and would be returning as their defending champion, I have no doubt he would be quite disappointed if the Tour potentially denied his release.

“I also think it is important to note that he is in a unique position, having played in the tournament since its inception and has, without question, helped put golf on the map in the Kingdom,” Winkle added. “In doing so, I hope he has helped grow the game in a region where golf is still a relatively new thing.”

Nothing must ever get in the way of growing the…game!

Rahm Is Well, Likely The Victim Of "Remnant Viral Particles"

Of the two high profile golfers to miss the Tokyo Olympics over a positive COVID test, Jon Rahm is the first to speak and while he’s healthy, he’s also miffed by what exactly knocked him out of the Games.

From Doug Ferguson of AP:

More maddening to Rahm is searching for answers on why this happened to him.

“I haven’t had two experts tell me the same thing,” he said.

Andy Levinson, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president who has overseen the COVID-19 protocols, was not involved in any of Rahm’s tests and hasn’t spoken to him. From his experience and working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said it sounded like what the tour dealt with last summer.

Some players still tested positive for weeks — sometimes months — after 10 days of isolation and no symptoms.

“The reason the CDC does not require someone to test again after 10 days of isolation is it’s very likely that for some period the test is going to detect remnant viral particles,” said Levinson, who also is head of USA Golf at the Olympics.

Squabbling At Winged Foot: Members At Odds Over Plans To Honor Trump

Jonathan Allen and Liz Brown-Kaiser of NBC News report that Winged Foot members are at odds over plans for an August 4th banquet tribute to former President Donald Trump. The hosts are Ted Virtue and Paul Queally, who plan to golf with Trump before a “tribute banquet”.

Virtue is the Trump Westchester member who gave up his club championship win for Trump.

From the story:

But some members are furious that the club is moving forward with the plan to honor Trump, according to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Those members were angered and disgusted by Trump's role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and his treatment of racial and ethnic minorities, according to a club member who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from fellow members. Queally repeatedly has been criticized over the years for making misogynistic, homophobic and anti-minority remarks.

The anti-Trump club members have not taken aggressive action to stop the banquet, but they have informally asked members of the board to intervene — to no avail. They believe they are speaking on behalf of employees of the club who are afraid that speaking out would cost them their jobs, the member said.

The story also notes how some of the course will have to be closed for security reasons:

"Club management AND board praying it comes and goes unnoticed," a club member said in a text message. "All pretty hush-hush, and no club announcement. But Secret Service will have to close down some of the course."

The Quadrilateral: Major(s) News And Notes, July 29, 2021

It’s a shorter one this week but The Quadrilateral still has a couple of notes, including a follow-up on the Morikawa 18th tee shot revelation and a look at major championship ratings dating to 1995.

As always, the Thursday edition is free for all but only subscribers get access to commenting and the archives. Plus, the Ryder Cup run-up should be a riot and there should be no shortage of major championship related news this fall. So climb aboard!

"Two South Korean golfers will play these Olympics with everything to lose"

With a depleted field, no spectators, a bland format, dicey forecast and an ultra-private venue forced into not discriminating against women, Tokyo’s Olympic golf isn’t exactly the center of international intrigue.

Si-Woo Kim and Sungjae Im will not agree.

They’re easily the most compelling story of the golf portion of the Games after skipping The Open in hopes of medaling. Their reward should they make the podium? Exemption from mandatory military service for any medal won.

Check out a very nice piece of research and writing by GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport, who explains why this is the case for Kim and Im, the history behind the policy and the unfortunate case of Sangmoon Bae after he had to quit a burgeoning career for two years of military service.

Golf Channel coverage of play begins Wednesday at 6:30 pm ET in the United States.

Bryson's Bagman Opens Up on Subpar Pod, Shares A Few State Secrets

I couldn’t find a listing on Golf.com for the latest episode—maybe in case staff member Bryson DeChambeau logs on. Mercifully there are multiple podcast outlets where you can listen to caddie Tim Tucker discuss the big breakup with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.

Besides apologizing for the Rocket Mortgage eve quitting and talking about his new life up at Bandon Dunes running a long planned luxury shuttle service, Tucker reveals how the old boss could be “very demanding” (no kidding!) and this which could be seen as a state secret reveal.

From GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner’s interview highlights:

“That to me is one of the most important things we’ve done – green density,” Tucker said. “Understanding I’m hitting a 7-iron with 6200 (rpm) spin landing into a 2% slope, it’s gonna run out four yards on a 6mm green density. That’s important and it’s predictable.”

Kids, don’t try this at home. Just play a practice round and trust what you feel under your feet.

Links Content Golf: North Berwick And Hayling

Hayling Golf Club (Links fro the Road)

While golf moves to soft, green, inland Japan I refuse to let the links season go just yet. Thankfully some fantastic “content creators” are giving us fresh, smart and beautiful looking short films to watch. One is on an old, well-known favorite in North Berwick and the other is on a course I knew nothing about, Hayling.

First off, Cookie Jar Golf’s Old Tom Trails series continues with this on North Berwick after David Jones teased us recently with hole-by-hole drone footage. Cookie Jar fleshes out the story of this amazing place and how it’s history and various clubs share the links:

Meanwhile Links From The Road posted this sensational look and commentary on Hayling Golf Club’s links, its design backstory and what it tells us about where golf is headed. Enjoy!

How To Make Olympic Golf Major

The Quadrilateral is all about the majors and Ryder Cup this year, but I couldn’t resist making one more plea to make Olympic golf major. Or seem bigger, more dramatic and definitely resembling something closer to the Ryder Cup than the WGC Kasumigaseki.

Working within those parameters I presented a format along with the men’s and women’s teams who would be competing this week. Subscribers already enjoyed this in their inbox this morning, so sign up if you haven’t. Well, get the vaccine first then sign up for The Quadrilateral.

Five Years Later, The Rio Olympic Golf Course Is Very Much Alive And Well

January, 2020 Google Earth image of Rio’s Olympic course

After much sweating, headache and even a little fear for lives, the Rio Olympic golf course was completed in time for the games. The Gil Hanse-Amy Alcott design was a massive collaboration between multiple parties, including the PGA Tour and International Golf Federation. Yours truly even paid a visit to share ideas, a documentary crew captured the process and the course was kind of a huge hit.

So while most of Rio’s other Olympic venues languish—and lazy stories like this Business Insider claim of its abandonment have circulated, only to then report in 2020 it wasn’t busy, the Rio course is appears to be thriving in ways that seem unimaginable five years since Justin Rose took gold over Henrik Stenson.

Most amazing of all? It may center around how stunning the conditioning looks. To say this course looks lean (in a great way) might be underselling it. Long feared as a place that would be overwatered and too lush for the Sandbelt-style golf envisioned by the design team to show the world a more sustainable game, the Rio course is delivering. Look at this close up from the Google Earth shot 19 months ago:

Now that is a beautiful shade of green!

But if you want proof that the course has become a lively place to be on a daily basis, give their Instagram account a follow. They had a concert in the progressive clubhouse last week! And you can follow along to see what the operators are doing to promote the game. No, the purveyors aren’t growing the game in the favelas, but they are keeping the place public, thriving and conducting outreach programs to juniors.

While some smaller events have been played there it’s a little surprising another big event like the Latin America Amateur Championship hasn’t been played there.

A recent post with video footage:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Campo Olímpico de Golfe (@campoolimpicodegolfe)

Grayson Murray Vents Frustration At Pro Golf Life, Finds A Friend In Phil

Oh and Elkington too. It’s a real who’s-who of Commissioner’s favorites chatting away on Twitter about, what, ultimately, I’m not sure except Grayson Murray’s brave admission he’s an alcoholic and is angry the PGA Tour has not helped him recover.

You can read Murray’s Notes app essay—nothing ever good comes from a Notes app essay—or just get a flavor of it in the screen capture below. Murray had deleted his Twitter account earlier this year after urging former President Donald Trump to play his own event after Trump Bedminster was stripped of the 2022 PGA Championship.

More newsworthy here is Phil Mickelson’s assertion that “we’ll get back to you” is the only response he gets from the Global Home.

Something tells me that’s not entirely accurate.

But I do look forward to Grayson joining Team Mickelson in the Premier League with Elkington serving as Senior Assistant Cart Driver to Manager Tim Mickelson.

Rahm's 2021 Olympic Dream Ends With Another COVID Positive

🇪🇸 Olympics pic.twitter.com/ZsXg3GDEsh

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) July 25, 2021

Plenty remains unexplained but for now we’ll just go with the IGF press release and Rahm’s statement above.

IGF STATEMENT REGARDING TEAM SPAIN 

TOKYO, JAPAN (July 25, 2021) – The International Golf Federation was informed on Sunday that Jon Rahm tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the final testing protocol before leaving for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and therefore is unable to compete for Spain. 

The Spanish Olympic Committee stated that without adequate time to find a replacement and comply with the necessary health protocols required for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Spain will only be represented by Adri Arnaus.

In accordance with the IGF’s Late Athlete Replacement Policy, the next available athlete identified by the IGF Reallocation Reserve List will replace Rahm, following nomination by his National Olympic Committee. 

The men’s Olympic competition begins Thursday, July 29 (local time) at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Rahm test positive during the Memorial Tournament and was forced to withdraw. He had received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier in the week after a close contact. Rahm then came back to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

He’s since traveled to the asymptmtc Scottish Open and The Open Championship where he was presumably tested multiple times. Rahm joins Bryson Dechambeau and caddie Austin Johnson as known cases post-Open.

The PGA Tour’s COVID-19 testing program was set to end this week at the 3M Championship according to GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard.

Presumably his case will be of interest beyond golf to determine how he could so quickly have tested positive again and whether the highly contagious Delta variant played a role.

**World No. 199 Jorge Campillo is going to take Rahm’s spot.

IGF STATEMENT REGARDING TEAM SPAIN 

TOKYO, JAPAN (July 26, 2021) – The Spanish Olympic Committee has informed the International Golf Federation that Jorge Campillo will replace Jon Rahm as a representative of Team Spain in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. 

Campillo will join Adri Arnaus in representing Team Spain for the men’s competition which begins Thursday, July 29 at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

DeChambeau Out Of Olympics Due To COVID Positive, Reed Steps In

USA Golf announced the unfortunate news of Bryson DeChambeau testing COVID-19 positive. He is out of the Tokyo games and will be replaced by Patrick Reed.

This is one of those press releases that should have ended after the third graph…

Bryson DeChambeau tested positive for COVID-19, as part of the final testing protocol before he left the United States for the Olympics 2020 in Japan. He will be unable to compete for Team USA. 

Patrick Reed will replace DeChambeau and is undergoing the requisite testing protocol today, Sunday and Monday before departing for Japan. The first round of competition is Thursday, July 29 (local time). Reed is now the only two-time Olympian for the men’s competition, as he played for Team USA in 2016 and will now compete in the 2020 Olympics.  

Representing Team USA Golf now includes Patrick Reed plus Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele in the men’s competition, and Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda in the women’s competition.  

“I am so excited to have the opportunity to represent our country and be a part of Team USA in Tokyo,” said Reed.  “I wish Bryson nothing but the best, and I know how disappointed he is to not be able to compete, and I will do my best to play my best and represent our country.”  

“I am deeply disappointed not to be able to compete in the Olympics for Team USA,” said DeChambeau.  “Representing my country means the world to me and it is was a tremendous honor to make this team. I wish Team USA the best of luck next week in Tokyo. I will now focus on getting healthy, and I look forward to returning to competition once I am cleared to do so.” 

No mention of having been vaccinated and yet, testing positive.

Barring a false positive we’ll put him down for still researching the vaccine.

“We’re obviously disappointed for Bryson, as we know how much he was looking forward to representing the United States in his first Olympics,” said Andy Levinson, USA Golf Executive Director.  “But we’re thrilled that Patrick Reed is excited to play for his country when he is called upon,

He’s not be asked to storm the beaches of Normandy, but go on…

even with the strenuous testing protocols and he is set to arrive just in time to compete – on a golf course he will have never seen prior to the start of competition. It really illustrates the importance of the Olympics and the value Patrick places on playing for Team USA and for his country.  We’re excited to welcome him to Tokyo soon and know he’ll be a formidable competitor for Team USA.”

We really didn’t need the hard sell.

Then again, as Bob Harig noted for ESPN.com, Reed was third alternate after Patrick Cantlay and Brooks Koepka. They presumably declined.