How to solve a problem like golf at the Olympic Games

I’m going to put my cards on the table right from the off here.  

If competing in the Games and winning a gold medal is not the pinnacle of your sport, then it should not be an Olympic discipline.

I know. Radical, right? I’m thinking of making banners and cruising down the Seine in a revealing outfit.

Ask any golfer if they would rather win a major or a medal, which do you think they would choose? You don’t have to. You already know the answer. And it’s the same with tennis, the same with football, and the same with plenty of other sports. 

It’s a flawed argument, sure. And I know what you’ll say. Justin Rose was incredibly honoured to represent Great Britain in 2016, and he is a very proud gold medallist. (As is Andy Murray, as is Neymar.) You’ll also remind me that Rory Sabbatini even changed his nationality in order to compete, without any hint of irony that your argument makes the whole situation even more ludicrous.    

Many players appear to agree with me. Look at the big names who missed out on Rio eight years ago: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson. McIlroy even went as far as saying he wasn’t planning on watching it, saying he prefers “track and field, swimming, diving – the stuff that matters”. 

“The stuff that matters.”

Four words so cutting they reckon Johnny Depp will play him in the movie.

DJ couldn’t be bothered four years later in Tokyo, either. Then ranked second in the world, he said the Games fell “right in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me” before adding that “it’s important that I’m focused on the PGA Tour”. 

Oh, hindsight can have such a good sense of humour sometimes. 

Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Matt Fitzpatrick, Lee Westwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Martin Kaymer also turned down the chance to represent their country in the Land of the Rising Sun. (Apropos of not much at all, I bet they’ll all be up for the 2028 Games in LA.) 

The problem is we’re now lumbered with golf’s new “Tiger or Jack?” debate. Should golf be an Olympic sport? A question (with answers) so dull I’ve spent the last 500 words laying out my argument for the ‘No’ camp without really having any kind of passion for my case.

I do, however, have at least three ideas as to what can be done, and I’ll spend the next 200 words laying them out… 

Make it an amateur event! Sure, the casual golf fan would rather tune in to the world’s finest knocking it around Le Golf National than those yet to make the step up to the professional ranks.   

But I’ll counter that by telling you that few of us have any interest in rowing, or handball, or dressage for 47 months out of 48 months, but put medals on the line in the name of your country and you’re passionately willing the dancing British horse to dance better than the other dancing horses as if your life depended on it. 

It would give the best up-and-coming players the chance to announce themselves on the world stage in a career-defining event and make household names of those who are only known to those of us who follow the sport closely. 

Change the format! A no-brainer, this one. We were all incredibly excited when golf was confirmed to return to the Games for the first time since 1904 – yes, even me – before we collectively rolled our eyes as news emerged it would be a bog-standard 72-hole stroke play event.    

Yawn. No wonder Rory didn’t tune in.  

Why not have a mix of stroke and match play, like The Amateur Championship? At least modified stableford or something. Or a Texas Scramble. Skins? Acey Ducey? Bingo Bango Bongo? Sandies? Barkies? Arnies? Wolf?

Make it mixed! Now there has been talk of this for the LA Games in ‘28, which is very exciting. And why not? We’ve been screaming out for a really good mixed event for so long now. This was – and still is – the best opportunity to do just that.  

Some of the teams would be so good. Imagine Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda taking on Tommy Fleetwood and Charley Hull.  

Or Jon Rahm and Carlota Ciganda battling it out with Rory McIlroy and Leona Maguire. Or Ludvig Aberg and Maja Stark. Or Hideki Matsuyama and Yuka Saso. Jin Young Ko and Tom Kim! Lydia Ko and Ryan Fox! Minjee and Min Woo Lee!  

Tell me you wouldn’t be hooked from that from start to finish? 

You know what, I think I’m coming around to the idea of golf at the Olympics… 

• Everything you need to know about the Paris 2024 golf tournaments

Missing persons

While the ongoing row around LIV Golf’s eligibility – or lack of – in the world rankings bumbles on, the powers that be when it comes to the golf tournaments at the Olympics had a good opportunity to avoid getting involved.

Unfortunately, they don’t agree, so we’re left with this rather absurd situation where – and I’m just plucking a couple of names here – golf’s biggest star at the moment, Bryson DeChambeau, is not there, and Wyndham Clark is. And you could make an argument for Tyrrell Hatton is in better form than Team GB’s representatives Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Even Rory McIlroy has weighed in on it. How many other disciplines have a qualification process? Like Jon Rahm says, just let each country’s governing body decide who they want to take. At the very least it would make the debate more entertaining.

By the way

Rory McIlroy represents Ireland and not Great Britain because he grew up playing under the Golf Ireland umbrella – which is the governing body for the sport on the entire island.

And while there are athletes from Northern Ireland representing Team GB in Paris due to duel nationality, it’s worth noting here that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but not part of Great Britain.

(I know you know – but you wouldn’t believe how much grief we get on social media for this…)

Want to feel old?

Not golf related, but Zheng Haohao, who is in Paris this week representing China in the Olympic skateboarding events, is 11. She was born on the day the London 2012 Olympics ended. She didn’t see Adam Scott crumble at Lytham! She was only a few weeks old during the Miracle at Medinah! I could go on but I’m too tired from being so old.

And finally…

As always, I like to finish by pointing out some excellent work carried out by my talented colleagues.

Ben Parsons did the impossible and not only tracked down Victor Dubuisson but managed to get the enigmatic Frenchman on the blower. The full interview is in the latest issue of bunkered magazine – on sale now! – but here’s a little taster of what to expect.

Meanwhile, this from Michael McEwan on the reincarnation of Bryson DeChambeau is simply a must-read.

And this is a great catch from John Turnbull about the problems faced by Royal Portrush ahead of next year’s Open.

Have a great week, and play well.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor