By DOUG FERGUSON, AP golf reporter
One of the best signs that golf was starting to become an Olympic sport came from a player who never even reached the podium.
Rory McIlroy was in a seven-way play-off for the bronze medal at the Tokyo Games, knocked out on the third of four extra holes. He said after the match: “I’ve never tried so hard to finish third.”
McIlroy was among those who skipped the Olympics when golf resumed in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. He said then that he wouldn’t watch golf, just “the things that matter.” The next time, he was all in.
And he’s not the only one. Only two eligible players will not participate in the men’s competition which begins on August 1 at Le Golf National near Paris.
One is Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who withdrew from the Tokyo Games just after being in position to compete. The other is Chilean Cristobal del Solar, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and doesn’t want to miss a week if it hurts his chances of getting a PGA Tour card.
In most cases, the competition to get to the Paris Games was tough.
“Qualifying was my number one goal this year,” said reigning gold medalist Xander Schauffele. “They’re a very tough team to qualify against on the U.S. side.”
The Americans have two players in the top 10 who will not participate, including US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Of course, there is no excuse not to participate in the Games this year. Rio de Janeiro has been facing the threat of the Zika virus. The Tokyo Games were postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning there will be no spectators, no opportunity for athletes to attend other events and daily coronavirus testing.
The value of gold, silver and bronze remains to be determined.
Given the busy golf schedule, the British Open silverware will be awarded just 11 days before the quest for a gold medal.
“In track and field and gymnastics, winning a gold medal as a kid was the pinnacle of the pinnacle,” said Schauffele, who won his first major this year at the PGA Championship. “People ask me now about a major and a gold medal. When I was younger, I watched the majors. Maybe in 50 years it will be different.”
“But the focus is on winning an Olympic gold medal,” he said. “That’s starting to pay off. And I imagine it’s going to become more and more important.”
The gold medalists from Rio de Janeiro (Justin Rose and Inbee Park) and Tokyo (Schauffele and Nelly Korda) all won major championships on home soil.
Schauffele and Korda will be among the contenders to give golf back-to-back gold medals, a difficult task in golf no matter what brand of trophy it is.
Scottie Scheffler remains the overwhelming favorite wherever he goes, having already won six of golf’s top tournaments, including the Masters and The Players Championship. The gap between Scheffler and the rest of the world golf rankings is wider than it has been since the glory days of Tiger Woods.
“Playing for your country is always extremely exciting. I think it will be even more special to do it on the Olympic stage,” Scheffler said. “It’s also a good way for people to brag when they tell me golf is not a sport. I can say it’s an Olympic sport.”
Korda is more of a mystery.
The American, who will be 26 when the women’s competition begins, was unbeatable in March and April as she tied an LPGA record with five consecutive victories, including her second major at the Chevron Championship.
But then she took a 10 on one hole at the U.S. Women’s Open and shot 80, missing the cut. She missed another cut in Michigan, then shot 81 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and missed another cut in a major.
Golf today is experiencing a LIV Golf effect. Seven players from the Saudi-funded league will compete in the Olympics. The list starts with Jon Rahm, the two-time major winner who defected to LIV late last year. His world ranking was high enough that it didn’t impact his Olympic ranking.
The same can’t be said for DeChambeau, who tied for sixth at the Masters this year, finished second to Schauffele at the PGA Championship and beat McIlroy at the U.S. Open. With majors being the only tournaments where he can accumulate world ranking points, he hasn’t been able to make the top four Americans who get a chance to play.
The Olympic ranking is based on the world ranking and countries get a maximum of four players provided they are among the world’s top 15.
Chilean Joaquin Niemann and Mexican Abraham Ancer were among those who played where they could, especially on the Asian circuit, to get the maximum ranking points. Ancer managed to come back just short for his second Olympic Games.
The venue will be familiar to a handful of players and viewers. Le Golf National has hosted the French Open 29 times – three former champions, including Tommy Fleetwood, will compete in the Olympics – and, most famously, it hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018.
Five players from this Ryder Cup will be present at the Olympic Games, all European, including Rahm and McIlroy.
They’re playing for the flag, yes, but they’re also playing for themselves and for a medal. In that sense, it’s like any other tournament, except it only happens once every four years. That’s what makes it special, whether a player has won a major tournament or not.
“You play for a medal, for bragging rights. It’s the rawest form of competition and there’s an old-school feeling to it when you play the game because you love it,” Schauffele said.
Originally published: