Olympic Golf: What to Watch For in the First Two Rounds

After more than a century, golf is finally returning to the Olympic Games. Here’s what to watch for in the first two rounds.

After a wait of 112 years, men’s tournament golf is finally set to take the stage as an Olympic sport once again. The tee times and group pairings for the first two rounds were released on Monday. Everything is in place for a great four rounds of golf on the Gil Hanse-designed Olympic Golf Course near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

One early highlight to look forward to on Thursday morning is Brazil’s own Adilson da Silva hitting the opening tee shot of the Olympic tournament.

“The first guy in 112 years – or whatever it is – to open the Olympics,” da Silva said. “… It was a big surprise. I was thrilled. It’s amazing.”

Da Silva tees off at 6:30 a.m. (ET) with Canadian Graham DeLaet, whose country won the last Olympic golf event in 1904, and Korean Byeong Hun An.

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Another notable group for the 72-hole stroke play competition includes Bubba Watson (USA), Martin Kaymer (Germany) and Anirban Lahiri (India).

As a two-time major winner and three-time member of the US Ryder Cup team, Watson is arguably the top golfer at these Olympic Games. However, his recent underwhelming performances (T-39 at The Open and T-60 at the PGA) may be cause for concern.

Kaymer, the 2014 PLAYERS and U.S. Open champion, is starting to heat up at just the right time, notching a strong T-7 at the PGA Championship two weeks ago. Throw in Lahiri’s T-6 at Colonial back in May, and this 8:14 a.m. group appears to have some real potential.

The only group to feature three golfers inside the top 40 of the Official World Golf Ranking tees off at 9:25 a.m. It includes Sergio Garcia (Spain), Patrick Reed (USA) and Emiliano Grillo (Argentina).

Prior to missing the cut at Baltusrol, Garcia was on a nice run of top 10 finishes that included good performances at The Open Championship and the U.S. Open. His biggest competition in the group is likely to be Reed, who enters the week with his own hot streak of four straight top 15s. Lurking in the background will be Grillo, who found the top 15 at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship this summer.

As for the other two Americans vying for Olympic gold, Ryder Cup hopeful Rickie Fowler will tee off at 9:58 a.m. with Great Britain’s Justin Rose and Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas. Matt Kuchar, who until last week was under the impression that the Olympic event would feature a team format rather than individual stroke play, will begin his round at 8:03 a.m. alongside Great Britain’s Danny Willett and China’s Li Haotong.

With only 60 competitors in the field, there will be no cut this week. Expect there to be added pressure on these Olympic golfers to put themselves in position for a successful weekend. Below is a complete list of the pairings and tee times for the first and second rounds of the men’s Olympic competition.

Tee Times (All Times ET)

Round 1, Thursday

6:30 a.m. – Adilson da Silva (Brazil), Graham DeLaet (Canada), Byeong Hun An (South Korea)

6:41 a.m. – Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Matteo Manassero (Italy), Danny Lee (New Zealand)

6:52 a.m. – Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)

7:03 a.m. – Julien Quesne (France), Marcus Fraser (Australia) Shingo Katayama (Japan)

7:14 a.m. – Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Wang Jeung-hun (South Korea), Espen Kofstad (Norway)

7:25 a.m. – Felipe Aguilar (Chile), Danny Chia (Malaysia), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark)

7:41 a.m. – Fabian Gomez (Argentina), David Lingmerth (Sweden), Jose-Felipe Lima (Portugal)

7:52 a.m. – Rodolfo Cazaubon (Mexico), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Brandon Stone (South Africa)

8:03 a.m. – Danny Willett (Great Britain), Matt Kuchar (United States), Li Haotong (China)

8:14 a.m. – Bubba Watson (United States), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Anirban Lahiri (India)

8:25 a.m. – Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), David Hearn (Canada)

8:36 a.m. – Gregory Bourdy (France), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Pan Cheng-tsung (Chinese Tapei)

8:47 a.m. – Yuta Ikeda (Japan), Roope Kakko (Finland), Miguel Tabuena (Philippines)

9:03 a.m. – Wu Ashun (China), Nino Bertasio (Italy), Scott Hend (Australia)

9:14 a.m. – Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh)

9:25 a.m. – Sergio Garcia (Spain), Patrick Reed (United States), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)

9:36 a.m. – Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Alex Cejka (Germany), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

9:47 a.m. – Shiv Chawrasia (India), Seamus Power (Ireland), Lin Wen-tang (Chinese Taipei)

9:58 a.m. – Rickie Fowler (United States), Justin Rose (Great Britain), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela)

10:09 a.m. – Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain)

Round 2, Friday

6:30 a.m. – Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), David Hearn (Canada)

6:41 a.m. – Gregory Bourdy (France), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay), Pan Cheng-tsung (Chinese Tapei)

6:52 a.m. – Yuta Ikeda (Japan), Roope Kakko (Finland), Miguel Tabuena (Philippines)

7:03 a.m. – Wu Ashun (China), Nino Bertasio (Italy), Scott Hend (Australia)

7:14 a.m. – Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh)

7:25 a.m. – Sergio Garcia (Spain), Patrick Reed (United States), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)

7:41 a.m. – Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Alex Cejka (Germany), Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

7:52 a.m. – Shiv Chawrasia (India), Seamus Power (Ireland), Lin Wen-tang (Chinese Taipei)

8:03 a.m. – Rickie Fowler (United States), Justin Rose (Great Britain), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela)

8:14 a.m. – Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain)

8:25 a.m. – Adilson da Silva (Brazil), Graham DeLaet (Canada), Byeong Hun An (South Korea)

8:36 a.m. – Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Matteo Manassero (Italy), Danny Lee (New Zealand)

8:47 a.m. – Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gavin Green (Malaysia), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)

9:03 a.m. – Julien Quesne (France), Marcus Fraser (Australia), Shingo Katayama (Japan)

9:14 a.m. – Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium), Wang Jeung-hun (South Korea), Espen Kofstad (Norway)

9:25 a.m. – Felipe Aguilar (Chile), Danny Chia (Malaysia), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark)

9:36 a.m. – Fabian Gomez (Argentina), David Lingmerth (Sweden), Jose-Felipe Lima (Portugal)

9:47 a.m. – Rodolfo Cazaubon (Mexico), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Brandon Stone (South Africa)

9:58 a.m. – Danny Willett (Great Britain), Matt Kuchar (United States), Li Haotong (China)

10:09 a.m. – Bubba Watson (United States), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Anirban Lahiri (India)

Next: Olympics: Top 5 Teams to Watch in Men's Competition

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