Rory’s absence opens door for the dream team
THE contention here remains that professional golf has no business in the Olympic Games. Adamant as that starting position is, reality should be accommodated, too, and the fact is that the sport is on the Rio roster. The hope is it will not survive there long, and this disastrous decision will be repealed by 2020 and the Tokyo games are held.
The damage done by the determination of Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen and others not to compete in the Olympic event is enormous. Organisers must be running fingers along the inside of their collars as they wait to hear from Jordan Spieth and Jason Day.
One or either of those two withdrawing would confirm that the world’s best golfers have priorities that revolve around the majors, and not another 72-hole stroke play, one plonked in the busy summer schedule.
Reaction to McIlroy’s decision not to compete was fanned by the result later that day of Ireland’s Euro 2016 match against Italy. In the aftermath of that dramatic victory, there was plenty of talk about treasuring those who really care for Ireland. The implication was obvious, and trite. It is nice to dream of a day when people in this country are not so wearingly sensitive, taking every decision that displeases them as a slight on mother Ireland and her dead patriots.
There was no betrayal in McIlroy’s decision, just as Graeme McDowell did not diminish the stocks of national self-respect by deciding the health of his pregnant wife and imminent birth of their second child are more important to him than the Olympics.
Their choices have created conditions in which Irish supporters could pay more attention to the golf competition in Rio than it probably deserves. With Padraig Harrington next in line for selection according to the world rankings, a pairing of him and Shane Lowry would constitute a very popular team, while also granting Harrington a chance at one final career high.
It has long been argued here that he is Ireland’s best-loved sportsman. There is a hesitancy in the public attitude to McIlroy explained by his background and by his global fame. Harrington, fairly or not, is seen as one of us in a way that McIlroy, Northern Irish-born and reared, and who once honestly stated that he felt more British than Irish, is not.
McIlroy is also one of the few figures in sport who is known around the world. Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Usain Bolt, his support breaches national borders. He has fans in England and America who back him as fervently as many in Newry and Limerick do.
Harrington, a three-time major winner, is categorically Irish. He is known by golf fans around the globe, but his fame is generally contained on this island. There are few figures as idiosyncratic, but the sight of him wearing glasses despite having laser surgery on his eyes is met with affection.
And as the evidence of decline from his major-winning form became more and more apparent in the past half-decade, his insistence that he was close to reclaiming old glory was met with hope.
His remarkable win at the Honda Classic in March 2015 was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm, confirming the elevated place he occupies in the affections of Irish people.
Misplaced as the inclusion of golf at the Olympics patently is, there is an undeniable excitement in picturing Harrington teeing up for his country in Rio. Lowry is certain to make up half the Irish side. He is placed 25th in the official world golf rankings. Harrington is the next placed Irishman at 167th, with Séamus Power the next highest at 281. It seems certain Lowry will team up with his great hero Harrington, and in the partnership between the two, it is possible to discern Harrington’s successor to a prominent place in the national affections.
Lowry is no athlete. He loves the GAA and made his jubilation clear on Twitter following Robbie Brady’s goal last Wednesday. He is, as is Harrington, a millionaire many times over, earning a fortune in a sport that understands and benefits from the corporate world better than any other.
But he seems normal, in the way he suffers the trials of Offaly hurling and football, and in the way he sweats, swears and celebrates on the course.
McIlroy is charming and his obvious decency has saved the Irish
Open. He cried on winning the tournament last month, and the work he has done to salvage it should be remembered by those who accuse him of letting Ireland down.
It is easier to fling those slurs at McIlroy the global, corporate superstar. He does not have the connection with fans or the passing public that Harrington and Lowry do.
In the chaotic circumstances Olympic golf now finds itself, Ireland could be unexpected beneficiaries. A medal won on the course could not be valued as highly as one claimed on the track or in the boxing ring, given golf has an established prize list that places the majors above everything else.
But success for Harrington or Lowry would still be loudly cheered, simply because they are treasured by the people. Eight years after his last major, Harrington may star one final time.
LOWRY WILL TEAM UP WITH HIS GREAT HERO HARRINGTON IN BRAZIL