I am not convinced about the Olympic golf stuff to be honest. Yes golf is a sport but these guys have their Olympics every week of the year on the major tours around the world. They do though. I mean every golf championship nowadays is an Olympian feat in presentation, organisation and execution. Why do they want more? Is the winning of a an Olympic medal that important? Surely not.
It just didn’t sit right with me seeing Xander Schauffle all dressed up in a USA tracksuit and beaming on his podium. He was like a little self-conscious schoolboy wearing his uniform on his first day at school. They all looked a bit silly to be honest. It was kind of like, why on earth are you wearing a tracksuit?
But imagine if John Daly or Angel Cabrera had won a medal! It would have just looked too ridiculous for words. Ok I know it’s not going to happen, as John Daly would almost definitely refuse to wear a tracksuit and Angel is in jail.
This brings me to the funny anecdote told by Tom Lewis’s caddie at the Dunhill a few years back. He said that the caddies were all put up in the Olympic village too and of course most like him weren’t overly athletic-looking. So when people asked him which sport he did, he used to reply ‘hurdles’.
Wonderful.