Le Golf National’s grandstand on 18
Although there is no prize money and only medals bestowed on Olympic golfers, many countries do reward their players with additional cash bonus compensation. Scheffler will receive $39,000 for winning gold from the USA Olympic Committee, which may defray some of his expenses, including his pre-Olympic holiday with his wife and new son in southern France. Matsuyama earned $6,000 from Japan for his bronze performance. Alas, Fleetwood received nothing for winning silver as the Great Britain Olympic Committee put up zilch dough for its athletes. Those modest (or none at all) payouts are refreshing in a sport awash with money, especially with LIV Golf.
The venue—Le Golf National—was a good test and offered spectators (a sold-out throng of 30k) tremendous views of the action, particularly on the closing holes. Credit goes to the designers Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge, with help from Pierre Thevenin, for placing the 15-16-18 greens within 150 yards of each other and lending an expansive amphitheater. There was only one massive grandstand, and it was at 18.
However, the course set-up and conditions were much different than for the 2018 Ryder Cup held there. At that time, the European captain and his team insisted on high rough, with no graduated or second cut, to negate the advantages of the longer-hitting American squad. It worked, as the Euros routed the Americans.
However, no USA player in Paris (Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa) played in the 2018 Ryder Cup. No “scar tissue,” one may argue.
Jason Day, representing Australia, finished T-9th and prepared for Le Golf National by playing it on a simulator weeks before the Olympics.
A tip of the beret to France’s Victor Perez, who finished 4th, was one shot out of a playoff for bronze. After beginning the final round T13, Perez posted 8-under 63, including a 6-under stretch in five holes from Nos. 12-16 (birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie). It marked the highest finish from an athlete representing the host nation in the men’s Olympic golf competition.
Rory Mcllroy predicts the Olympic golf competition will, in time, rival the majors.
When asked how the Olympics ranks with the majors, Rory Mcllroy answered: “I don’t know if anything will be able to sit alongside the majors,” he said. “We have our four events a year that are the gold standard. But I think this is, in time, going to be right up there amongst that.”
Mcllroy was in the hunt at the end and carded a fine 66 on Sunday, but a costly double on 15 when his approach shot found water ruined his chances to medal. Afterwards, about that hole he said: “I hit the shot I wanted to hit, but I didn’t get the ball in the air enough for the wind to carry it the extra three or four yards I needed to. Tried to stay aggressive and land a wedge between the front edge and the hole. Missed my spot by nearly three or four yards and that ended up costing me a medal.”
Most disappointed was Spain’s Jon Rahm, who admitted after Saturday’s round of 66, which gave him a share of the lead, that he hadn’t “felt comfortable on the golf course for over a year.” (And this was said after he won a LIV event the week prior!)
After reaching 20-under par after 10 holes and taking a four-shot lead on Sunday, Rahm collapsed with back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12, followed by a double bogey-7 at the 14th. Back-to-back bogeys on his final two holes foiled any chances for a medal.
Notwithstanding Bryson DeChambeau’s heroics at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, one wonders if LIV Golf’s all-too-cozy format and little-seen entertainment atmosphere fail to prepare its players for performance under major pressure.
In an understatement, I’m eager for the women’s competition to start this Wednesday.
Photos courtesy of the International Golf Federation (IGF) and by Chris Condon, Tracy Wilcox, and Ben Jared, PGA Tour/IGF
Special thanks to Tad Dickman, IGF’s media relations, for his excellent and thorough efforts in providing extensive information about the Olympic golf competition.
IGF was founded in 1958 and is the recognized International Federation within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement. The headquarters of the IGF is located by the shores of Lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland.
