Rio 2016: Golf’s Rocky Road to the Olympic Games

Golf’s road to Rio 2016 is a bit rocky – and it could get worse.

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will include golf for the first time since 1904. You’d think the eligible golfers would be jumping up and down and banging at the gates. They’re not. To the contrary, many of them are complaining and some of them are stepping back.

Adam Scott is the most recent to go thumbs down on Rio 2016. Scott has set the rumors and inuendo to rest and made it official. He’s not available to join the Australian Olympic golf team this summer. The world’s number 7 in the men’s golf rankings has passed the honor of representing his country at the 2016 Olympic Games to 34th ranked Marc Leishman.

"“My decision has been taken as a result of an extremely busy playing schedule around the time of the Olympics, and other commitments, both personal and professional. I have informed the Australian team captain and relevant authorities, who are understanding of my position, and I wish the Australian Olympic Team the very best of luck in Rio.” – Adam Scott"

Scott joins Vijay Singh, who was a lock to represent Fiji but announced last week that he’s going to skip the Rio Games because of “the Zika virus, you know and all that crap.”

Is it the looming and very scary health crisis or is it the schedule snarl or is it something else that’s giving golfers pause?

So far as the Zika virus is concerned, after taking appropriate prophylactic measures – a goodly supply of DEET-laced insect repellant, avoiding pregnancy for female athletes, avoiding unprotected sex with women anticipating pregnancy for male athletes – there’s not much individual athletes can do about the Zika virus.

If Zika is the primary concern, then golfers probably need to avoid the sport in geographic areas well beyond Rio. Somebody probably needs to let Vijay know that Zika poses a global threat.

To be sure, Olympic Golf has created a big of a snarl in pro golf’s multi-tour, global schedule.

Real more about the Olympic schedule snarl

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The jiggling on the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the French Open is forcing some of the pros to make some tough choices about their personal schedules that could impact on 2016 Ryder Cup eligibility, not to mention Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup points. In other words, there’s a pocketbook factor at work, but nobody’s talking about it. That would be regarded as unseemly?

Then there’s the “something else” – the elephant in the living room: the IGF Olympic Games Qualification System. What it boils down to, if I can cut through the nuance, is that half the Olympic golf field will be drawn from the top of the world rankings – OWGR for men and Rolex Rankings for women – and the other half will be drawn from well down in the rankings.

The end result will be some strangely unbalanced competitions and I’m getting the feeling that some of the pros regard that imbalance with a bit of distain. If that’s the case, and since there’s not been any public discussion one is left reading between the lines and speculating, it would seem to violate the essence of the modern Olympic Movement.

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While athletes and coaches generally agree with Vince Lombardi – athletic competition is about winning – the Olympic Movement is a global celebration of sport. It is designed to be inclusive. It is a celebration of sport. Who among us has not cheered for the Jamaican bobsled team? Who among us will not applaud Chile’s Mark Tullo when he completes his round? I hope golf gets in step and embraces the spirit of the Games.