JDay, DJ, Others Pull out of Olympics, Rickie, Others Still Going

[70sSanO]

I remember the eastern bloc countries and their amateur professionals, but the USA still competed regardless.  And the wins were even more sweet.

There is a reason why "Miracle" will always be remembered in such a high regard and the Dream Team has all but been forgotten.

The Olympics need to stick with sports where the gold is truly considered a major championship and not water it down with professional sports/atheletes.

John

[natureboy]

Here's the men's field with current OWGR

SEED	PLAYER	COUNTRY	OWGR
1	Bubba Watson	USA	5
2	Henrik Stenson	SWE	6
3	Rickie Fowler	USA	7
4	Danny Willett	GBR	9
5	Justin Rose	GBR	11
6	Sergio Garcia	ESP	12
7	Patrick Reed	USA	13
8	Matt Kuchar	USA	15
9	Rafa Cabrera Bello	ESP	28
10	Byeong Hun An	KOR	31
11	Thongchai Jaidee	THA	38
12	Danny Lee	NZL	40
13	Emiliano Grillo	ARG	44
14	David Lingmerth	SWE	48
15	Soren Kjeldsen	DEN	50
16	Bernd Wiesberger	AUT	51
17	Martin Kaymer	GER	52
18	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	THA	53
19	Francesco Molinari	ITA	56
20	Anirban Lahiri	IND	62
21	Thorbjorn Olesen	DEN	64
22	Joost Luiten	NED	65
23	Thomas Pieters	BEL	66
24	Jaco Van Zyl	RSA	67
25	Fabian Gomez	ARG	73
26	Jeunghun Wang	KOR	76
27	Scott Hend	AUS	81
28	Marcus Fraser	AUS	86
29	Brandon Stone	RSA	92
30	Yuta Ikeda	JPN	93
31	Shingo Katayama	JPN	107
32	Gregory Bourdy	FRA	112
33	Julien Quesne	FRA	123
34	Nicolas Colsaerts	BEL	124
35	Ricardo Gouveia	POR	125
36	David Hearn	CAN	127
37	Wu Ashun	CHN	129
38	Miguel Tabuena	PHI	140
39	Hao Tong Li	CHN	141
40	Alex Cejka	GER	143
41	Graham DeLaet	CAN	146
42	Fabrizio Zanotti	PAR	147
43	Padraig Harrington	IRL	148
44	Ryan Fox	NZL	184
45	SSP Chawrasia	IND	207
46	Danny Chia	MAS	230
47	Mikko Ilonen	FIN	235
48	Jhonattan Vegas	VEN	240
49	Felipe Aguilar	CHI	248
50	Cheng Tsung Pan	TPE	256
51	Adilson da Silva	BRA	271
52	Seamus Power	IRL	290
53	Espen Kofstad	NOR	291
54	Roope Kakko	FIN	293
55	Nino Bertasio	ITA	299
56	Siddikur Rahman	BAN	308
57	Camilo Villegas	COL	314
58	Wen-Tang Lin	TPE	315
59	Angelo Que	PHI	320
60	Gavin Kyle Green	MAS	321

[natureboy]

Women;s field with current OWGR:

SEED	PLAYER	COUNTRY	OWGR
1	Lydia Ko	NZL	1
2	Brooke M. Henderson	CAN	2
3	Inbee Park	KOR	3
4	Lexi Thompson	USA	4
5	Sei Young Kim	KOR	5
6	Amy Yang	KOR	6
7	Ariya Jutanugarn	THA	7
8	In Gee Chun	KOR	8
9	Stacy Lewis	USA	9
10	Anna Nordqvist	SWE	11
11	Shanshan Feng	CHN	13
12	Minjee Lee	AUS	14
13	Gerina Piller	USA	15
14	Suzann Pettersen	NOR	18
15	Harukyo Nomura	JPN	22
16	Charley Hull	GBR	27
17	Teresa Lu	TPE	28
18	Candie Kung	TPE	32
19	Pornanong Phatlum	THA	34
20	Carlota Ciganda	ESP	36
21	Su-Hyun Oh	AUS	41
22	Shiho Oyama	JPN	43
23	Azahara Munoz	ESP	48
24	Xiyu Lin	CHN	50
25	Sandra Gal	GER	55
26	Karine Icher	FRA	60
27	Catriona Matthew	GBR	63
28	Caroline Masson	GER	77
29	Nicole Broch Larsen	DEN	88
30	Pernilla Lindberg	SWE	90
31	Alena Sharp	CAN	91
32	Gaby Lopez	MEX	98
33	Mariajo Uribe	COL	103
34	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	DEN	109
35	Christel Boeljon	NED	121
36	Paula Reto	RSA	122
37	Gwladys Nocera	FRA	134
38	Julieta Granada	PAR	135
39	Kelly Tan	MAS	153
40	Marianne Skarpnord	NOR	155
41	Ashleigh Simon	RSA	214
42	Laetitia Beck	ISR	223
43	Giulia Molinaro	ITA	251
44	Ursula Wikstrom	FIN	256
45	Noora Tamminen	FIN	274
46	Klara Spilkova	CZE	279
47	Christine Wolf	AUT	317
48	Giulia Sergas	ITA	326
49	Maria Verchenova	RUS	338
50	Leona Maguire	IRL	353
51	Anne Van Dam	NED	366
52	Albane Valenzuela	SUI	378
53	Alejandra Llaneza	MEX	385
54	Chloe Leurquin	BEL	402
55	Fabienne In-Albon	SUI	408
56	Tiffany Chan	HKG	434
57	Michelle Koh	MAS	443
58	Aditi Ashok	IND	444
59	Miriam Nagl	BRA	445
60	Cathryn Bristow	NZL	446

 

Women's Top 20 looks stronger than men, but women have a weaker bottom 15 than the men.

Edited July 12, 2016 by natureboy

[chris3putt]

57 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Women's Top 20 looks stronger than men, but women have a weaker bottom 15 than the men.

Not Cathrine Bistow, she has a gorgeous bottom....................

[MacDutch]

Looks like a strong field to me. Not as strong as a major, but strong enough to be interested.

Was reading that the check on performance enhancing stuff at the Olympics is a lot stronger than in golf. 

[Groucho Valentine]

On July 10, 2016 at 1:56 PM, rkim291968 said:

What do you think about 10s of thousands athletes and coaches who are going to Rio?    Most of those players have no chance at a medal, or windfall even with a good performance.   But they are going to Rio.  Are top male pro golfers so special or are they just self centered multi-millionaires?   Please note that you don't see this with LPGA players, and they should be more concerned about Zika.       Dustin, Jason, Rory, ..., if they had choice, I doubt if those boys would have enlisted in WW II if they were born in that era.   

You're comparing not wanting to play in a golf exhibition to WWII? 

Not sure if srs or trolling... but take it easy with the dramatics dude... We dont live in Soviet Russia, if the top Mens players don't want to to play - then they dont have to. 

The women are playing because they are in a far different position than the mens players are. The olympics is going to be the most important single event in the history of women's golf. As a competitive priority, the Olympics are far less important for the Mens players. 

[cutchemist42]

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/7/12/12159048/rory-mcilroy-2016-olympics-golf-rio-comments

[Gunther]

7 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/7/12/12159048/rory-mcilroy-2016-olympics-golf-rio-comments

I watched his presser live this morn.  I was struck by his non-chalance about the whole thing.  He's very happy with his decision, he doesn't feel obligated, he didn't get into golf to grow the game, etc.

Doesn't bother me but the contrast between he and Jordan was stark.  

[Groucho Valentine]

5 minutes ago, Gunther said:

I watched his presser live this morn.  I was struck by his non-chalance about the whole thing.  He's very happy with his decision, he doesn't feel obligated, he didn't get into golf to grow the game, etc.

Doesn't bother me but the contrast between he and Jordan was stark.  

Big Mc gave Olympic Golf a sick burn. 

[newtogolf]

It's a tough call, golf expects a lot of professional golfers.  Professional golfers promote the sport through Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup events.  The participants of those teams are expected to promote and participate in the events without any compensation.  Now we're adding the Olympics to their list of "growing the game" responsibilities, it's a lot to expect.

I don't expect anyone to cry for these guys who make $10M+ per year playing something we love to do but at least consider that on top of them having to foot the bill and not be compensated to participate in the Olympics they are also being asked to visit a country that isn't safe and poses potential health problems for them and their families.  

The interviews today were very strange, I don't think Spieth was asked one question about The Open, everything was focused on the Olympics and it was obvious he was uncomfortable.  Rory was correct in what he said, no one really cares about Olympics golf, we care about track and field and the other traditional summer Olympic sports.  

[krupa]

57 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

Now we're adding the Olympics to their list of "growing the game" responsibilities

"Bob, golf has an exposure problem.  Whadya got for me?"

"Really Jim?  What about the PGA, LPGA, Euro, Web.com, Asian, PGA Latinoamerica and all those mini tours?"

"Not enough Bob... we're in a crisis here!"

"Well, I guess we could get golf into the Olympics..."

"The Olympics?  The once-every-four-years thing?"

"Yeah... I mean that's one idea -..."

"That's perfect!"

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

It's a tough call, golf expects a lot of professional golfers.  Professional golfers promote the sport through Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup events.  The participants of those teams are expected to promote and participate in the events without any compensation.  Now we're adding the Olympics to their list of "growing the game" responsibilities, it's a lot to expect.

That's a fair point. What's going to get better TV ratings internationally, Olympic Golf or the Ryder Cup / President's Cup?

They already do 'grow the game' stuff like clinics, creating foundations, and just being great golfers that make people go 'wow'. To some degree the 'grow the game' is really more the responsibility of the governing golf bodies, equipment manufacturers, course architects, and developers.

If the IGF can make the event format compelling in it's own right (good athletic / competition drama) then it will be successful on its own merits as a special form of competition and may draw the top players back in down the road.

Edited July 12, 2016 by natureboy

[newtogolf]

11 minutes ago, natureboy said:

That's a fair point. What's going to get better TV ratings internationally, Olympic Golf or the Ryder Cup / President's Cup?

I'm not sure I guess it would depend on what time and channel they decided to show it in all the different countries.  

[No Mulligans]

As a cable cutter I only get NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox over my antenna (and an assortment of other channels that don't show sports).  I'm ready to be disappointed with the NBC golf coverage as I'm thinking they'll cut to golf for 10 to 15 minutes and then be off to some other sport.  You can't watch golf that way, the game does not fit the way the networks like to show the Olympics.

[DrvFrShow]

Zika... coming to a location near you.

I guess they'll be skipping tournaments in the Southeastern US next year... like the Masters, and anything in Florida, Southeast Texas, Mississippi, Alabama....

Come on guys, tell the truth. It's because you're not getting paid to play.

What? Bernhard Langer isn't playing for Germany? He can still beat half the guys on that list.

[natureboy]

21 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

As a cable cutter I only get NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox over my antenna (and an assortment of other channels that don't show sports).  I'm ready to be disappointed with the NBC golf coverage as I'm thinking they'll cut to golf for 10 to 15 minutes and then be off to some other sport.  You can't watch golf that way, the game does not fit the way the networks like to show the Olympics.

The internet feeds for the less mainstream sports may still be pretty valuable to advertisers, though.

[Abu3baid]

Roy just let it all out!

The guardian article

Quote

The 27-year-old objected to the suggestion he had sold his sport short by refusing to play in Brazil. “I don’t feel like I’ve let the game down at all,” he said. “I didn’t get into golf to try to grow the game. I got into golf to win championships and win majors. All of a sudden you get to this point and there is a responsibility on you to grow the game and I get that. But at the same time that’s not the reason I got into golf. I got into golf to win. I didn’t get into golf to get other people into the game.

I have to agree with him on that, it might be short sighted, but he is in it for him self obviously.  Love how blunt he is.

[DrvFrShow]

There it is.... honesty!

At least he doesn't have to come up with some excuse why he was worried about Zika in Brazil and not in Georgia next Masters.