Olympic Golf: Six Key Questions For The Weekend
By Adam McGee
Will The Winner Come From The Web.com Tour?
For as many familiar names and faces can be found in the Olympic field, there are some players who will not be quite as well recognized by anyone other than the most hardcore fans of the game.
For the likes of Seamus Power, Cheng Tsung Pan and Rodolfo Cazaubon, who all ply their trade on the Web.com tour, there’s a lot at stake this week. A lot more than trying to win a medal too.
The players may not be playing for the kind of lucrative prize purse that they are accustomed to, but there are World Ranking points, and even more importantly, big exemptions up for grabs.
The gold medal winner will be fully exempt for all four Majors next year, The Players Championship and will earn a year’s playing rights on the European Tour.
For those representing their country in spite of currently plying their trade in one of the world’s second tier tours, the flexibility offered by those choices could be life-changing.
Power and Pan both find themselves positioned in the top 10 at present, and with the duo well placed in the Web.com’s The 25, they already seem like locks to earn full PGA Tour playing privileges for 2017.
Considering that winning this week would lead to them having full access to both of the world’s major tours and a spot in golf’s four biggest events, the following two days could change their lives far beyond a dramatic increase in profile.
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