Olympics shine light on state of pro game
Rory McIlroy may not have medaled at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but he was right on the money — or lack of — about why the Games' golf competition is special.
Golf in the 2024 Paris Olympics was notable for two reasons and Rory McIlroy, who went home without a medal, covered them in two sentences.
Said McIlroy: “I still think the Ryder Cup is the best tournament in our game — pure competition — and this has to potential to be right up there with it. With how much of a s--tshow the game of golf is right now, the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don’t play for money.”
So golf in the Olympics has turned out better than anyone (especially me) thought. And professional golf has turned into a s--tshow. Even though McIlroy won $10.3 million so far this season, will get another $50 million or so for staying loyal to the PGA Tour instead of jumping to LIV Golf, and was handed $15 million in PIP (Player Impact Performance) money last year.
So pro golf is a s--tshow, but it’s a very lucrative s--tshow for the game’s biggest stars.
I stand by some of my original objections to Olympic golf. The makeup of the field is questionable. Yes, the men’s competition had nine of the top 12-ranked players and 24 of the top 50. However, there were just as many players ranked outside the top 100 in the world — 24 — as there were in the top 50. Worse, 15 ranked outside the top 200 and eight were outside the top 300. It looks a lot like affirmative action, Olympics style.
But that’s true of almost every Olympic event. The Olympics aren’t about having all of the best athletes, it’s about having the best athletes from around the world, even if that means leaving some of the best ones home because their countries already have full teams. In golf, the poster boy for that was Bryson DeChambeau, runner up in the PGA Championship and champion of the U.S. Open but left off the U.S. team due to his world ranking being lower than Wyndham Clark’s.
I didn’t think golf needed another pseudo-major, especially with the aforementioned spotty field. But now I see what an elite category Olympic golf falls into. It is possibly the easiest big tournament to win due to the size and strength of its field. You’ve only got to beat 24 of the world’s top 100. However, you only get to do that once every four years and, oh yeah, making the team in the U.S., for instance, means you’ve got to have a good 18 months leading up to the Games.
McIlroy hit on the best part of the Olympics. They aren’t playing for money. LIV Golf has already proven that no matter how many $4 million outings a player wins, they’re not going to leave a legacy. There is no lasting significance, no history, no gravitas.
The Olympics have gravitas that only golf’s four majors carry. That makes it special.
What I discovered is that my favorite part of Olympic golf is the race for second and third place. In PGA Tour events, they’re just fighting for checks. And thanks to Tiger Woods, we still tend to think of his line, “Second place sucks.” If you’ve already won millions in golf and you’re a star who’s playing for the trophies, that is true. But it’s not true in the Olympics. Second place is a silver medal and a place in history. Third place is a bronze medal and a spot in the Olympic record book. Those decidedly do not suck.
Matt Kuchar has had a fine PGA Tour career. He won nine times on Tour, including a Players Championship and a World Golf Championship (Match Play). He earned over $54 million. He never won a major championship, but his golfing legacy will be about winning a U.S. Amateur and snagging a bronze medal in 2016 when golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.
Those are two big finishes, no prize money for either. McIlroy nailed it.
THE DONALD IS WELL-POSITIONED
That’s Luke Donald, not the other Donald. Get your mind out of the mail-in vote gutter.
The European Ryder Cup team continues to make all the right moves while the U.S. squad is still searching. (Note the shocking Keegan Bradley captainship, for instance.)
The Euros announced their qualifying procedure for the team with a few shrewd modifications. Donald will have six wild-card selections once again. The six qualifying spots will be determined by a new points system that replaces the old method based on the Race to Dubai points (three players qualified) and world ranking points from 12 months before the Cup (three players).
In the new points system, the majors will carry a total of 5,000 total points; The Players, PGA Tour signature events and FedEx Cup Playoff events, 3,000; and regular PGA Tour events and Europe’s Rolex Series, 2,000. There will also be 1,500 points awarded for Europe’s Back 9 series and 1,000 at smaller European events and opposite-field PGA Tour events. LIV Golf events earn no points for playing on their 54-hole tour.
However, LIV Golfers can still qualify for the team. They must be current DP World Tour members, which means players such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will have to play four regular DP World Tour events to keep their membership.
European players can’t earn points toward the Cup on the PGA Tour until the start of 2025. But they can earn points on the DP World Tour starting at the Betfred British Masters at the start of September.
It’s a smart system. It recognizes that the PGA Tour is where most of the top European players compete and points will be earned accordingly. It also rewards Europeans who stay home to play the DP World Tour and it incentivizes LIV Golf players, namely Rahm and Hatton, to show up and compete in at least four DP World Tour events. And it’s a work-around for the World Golf Rankings, which are skewed because LIV Golf players don’t earn ranking points.
In short, Donald and the Europeans aren’t going to let any of their top players fall through the cracks or be ineligible to play in the Cup at Bethpage Black next year in New York.
Game on.
THE HEAT IS ON
The hottest major championship I ever covered was the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Let’s see, Tulsa in August? Great idea. The historical average daily high in Tulsa in August is 94.
At the 2007 PGA, the high temps during the four days of competition were 101, 99, 99 and 102. I remember walking across the clubhouse parking lot’s black asphalt in mid-afternoon and my feet felt ready to spontaneously combust.
The 1970 PGA at Southern Hills also averaged 100 degrees, but I didn’t cover that one. How old do you think I am, 90? I was still in high school.
Anyway, weather in the South was one reason among many why the PGA Championship moved from August to May a few years ago. Marketing dollars and TV ratings would be the main reasons. Shocking, yes, but money talks.
Well, the USGA is being reminded about Oklahoma weather with the U.S. Women’s Amateur, already under way this week at Southern Hills. Tuesday was the second round of stroke play to determine the top 64 players who will advance to match play and the high (temperature, not score) was expected to hit 102. The predicted highs for Wednesday and Thursday are 97 and 95. Then the heat breaks slightly, with a high of 87 Friday. Chances of showers are forecast for Saturday and Sunday with highs in the low- to mid-80s.
The other hottest major championships of my golf-writing timeline include the 1987 PGA Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida — a bad idea on a course that wasn’t major championship-ready; the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont (sweltering humidity that was not relieved even with the spectacle of the O.J. Simpson-police chase); and the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol, with average daily highs around 98.
So take heart this week in Tulsa, ladies. It’s steaming hot, yes, but it could’ve been worse. History says so.
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Gary, I found the final round to be compelling. And like you (I think) I could not have cared less in the lead up and maybe even less than that for Rio and Tokyo. My issue is those that tried to make this more than it is from the beginning (cough Shipnuck cough). It is NOT a Major. It is NOT the Ryder Cup. But in terms of field depth is it really all that much different from Augusta? I’d say no and I believe The Masters is the most important Tournament in the world. Another thing is this very quietly became a Bob Hope relative to score. I didn’t hear the same pearl clutching as after Valhalla.
All that said, I suspect I’ll be pretty dialed in for LA in four years assuming I’m still drawing breath.
What an ingrate!