Players prefer Cup to Rio gold
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — There are 25 flags — ranging from American stars and stripes to Ireland’s tricolor to Japan’s rising sun — that fly atop the leaderboard at the 18th green on the Baltusrol Golf Club course.
It is an international tableau that reflects worldwide reach of a game that will be contested as an Olympic event for the first time in 112 years in Brazil. It is also a reminder of international intrigue inspired by the decision of multiple top players to withdraw from the Rio Games.
“Rickie (Fowler) is telling me about his opening ceremonies outfit, he’s all excited about it,” American Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said. “And then other guys are like, ‘But I don’t want to mess up the PGA. I’ve got my schedule set, I have commitments.’ So I understand both sides of it.”
So goes the Olympics movement in the country club circuit, 10 days out from the torch lighting in Rio, as the Garden State plays host to the field for the 98th PGA Championship. Jordan Spieth, the No. 3 player in the world, and Rory McIlroy, the fourth best, announced their decisions to skip the Olympics recently, and will rest up for FedEx Cup Playoffs the next three weeks rather than hit balls in a Rio roiled with a variety of problems, starting with money and including mosquitoes. For his part, Spieth, 22, insisted his absence will be a one-Olympics decision.
“I feel very passionately about golf in the Olympics,” Spieth said. “It really is a shame that I’m not going to be able to do it this time. But I do think that it’s a very special event for the game of golf, already a global sport, and like tennis struggled early to get guys to go, I think this was just a unique year that will certainly change in four years’ time.”
The PGA Tour schedule was condensed this season as players planned for the Olympics. The PGA Championship comes two weeks after the British Open at Royal Troon, and players attempted to weigh whether it was a positive to play majors so close together or whether it was a negative in terms of needing more rest in between.
No matter. Golfers raised on the calendar of four majors and a Ryder Cup needed to negotiate a new timetable in order to prioritize what means most in their careers. Typically, the event that pits national interests is the Ryder Cup, which is played in even-numbered years between 12-member teams from the U.S. and Europe. It consists of five match-play sessions played over three days, and will be contested for the 110th time at Hazelton National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., in late September.
“We’ve been stressing being rested and prepared,” Love III said. “I know Jack Nicklaus got us started off with that back in March. He said, ‘You guys just need to be prepared better than the other team.’ So I give them a lot of credit for sticking to their schedule, doing what’s best for them.”
Bubba Watson is one American who remains committed to the Olympics. He tied for 39th place at the British Open and opened a candy shop – Bubba’s Sweet Spot in Florida – since returning stateside. He will play the Travelers tournament next week and miss the opening ceremonies in Brazil. The Travelers trumps most events in Watson’s mind because he won it in 2010, dedicated the victory to his father, Gerry, a Vietnam veteran, and then watched his father die later that year. He also won the event last season.
“Having the flag on my shoulder, or me representing the flag, United States of America, is very special,” he said. “Here we know what to expect when you win a major or to win Travelers, but when it comes to Olympics, nobody knows. I haven’t talked to anybody 112 years ago.”