Olympic Golf in 2016

[Webb]

I wonder how badly the IOC can screw this up.

Course construction hasn't even started but is expected to be completed by 2014.

Every tour will have to alter its schedule to make its top players available.

Since professionals are allowed to compete the field will be heavily dominated by Tour quality pros playing against the likes of Vietnamese. (Nothing against the Vietnamese - they are just not known for producing quality golfers.)

If They Were Playing Olympic Golf in London...

[quote]If golf had been part of the London Olympics, as it will be at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, only two countries would have sent more than two male players: the U.S. and the U.K. Under the scheme most likely to be in effect for Rio, all players in the top 15 of the world rankings are automatically eligible, with a limit of four top-15 players from any one country. Countries with two or fewer players in the top 15 can't send more than two. In the current rankings, only the U.S. with eight and the U.K. with five have more than two players in the top 15.

Come 2016, these criteria are bound to create controversy. The fields will be determined entirely by world rankings, going down the list one by one until each gender has 60 entrants. To get to that number, according to the rankings, players as low as No. 327 for the men (Mardan Mamat of Singapore) and 447 for the women (Paola Moreno of Colombia) would go to Rio. There will be no captain's picks or sponsor exemptions.

For the London Olympics, the hypothetical Team U.S.A. would have been:

Tiger Woods,
Webb Simpson,
Bubba Watson and
Jason Dufner.

Left out: Matt Kuchar, No. 9 in the world; Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker, ranked Nos. 12 through 14; Phil Mickelson, No. 17.

For the U.K., the home team would have been:

Luke Donald,
Rory McIlroy,
Lee Westwood and
Justin Rose,

although world No. 3 McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain, could have opted to play for Team Ireland. World No. 9 Graeme McDowell, also from Northern Ireland, would have had the same choice, possibly leaving the U.K. team with only three members. The third- and fourth highest-ranking golfers in Australia, No. 35 John Senden and No. 48 Geoff Ogilvy, wouldn't make the trip

[C]

They did well. Two new sports in Rio 2016 - Golf (of course, origins in the UK!) and rugby union (invented at Rugby School, again in the UK!). Why on earth did they not introduce them at London 2012!

It's not like we haven't got dozens of world class golf courses and rugby stadia!