If you imagine Billy Crystal’s reaction, doing his best Mafioso accent, after reading that another athlete is in the headlines about not wanting to participate in the Summer Games in Brazil.  This is the thought that came into my head when I heard this week that Rory is passing on this supreme opportunity as golf returns to the Olympics after 100 years.

Not withstanding Zika, unsanitary water, fear of being mugged, or the complete fracturing of the political system in the country, who really cares whether any of these high profile super wealthy athletes decide to show up.  More important who cares whether golf returns to the Olympics at all.

To me this is all a cash grab on the part of the IOC and NBC who have very little interest in the health and well being of the sport and only want to collect fees as a result of selling Doritos and Diet Coke to viewers across the globe.

Rory has about this same level of enthusiasm for playing in Rio

As Greenie from Mike and Mike said this morning on his show, the Olympics should have sports participating where winning the gold medal represents the pinnacle achievement in their game.  That is how it used to be.  Fencing, swimming, gymnastics, track and field, white water slalom….there were no other forums for these athletes to excel and therefore enrich their careers.  The Olympic exposure is there meal ticket.

In spite of the fact that the NBA used the exposure of the Dream Teams of the 90’s  to “globalize” their product-this year 15 of the first 30 guys picked in the NBA draft were international players-this was happening anyway as scouts from the NBA began to travel across the globe in search of new talent.  Once that talent signed on-the TV rights back into those countries followed as did the cash payouts for the league.

Folks like Lebron James, Steph Curry, Candace Parker, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Lionel Messi, and Erin McLeod do not need the exposure, the money, or the additional wear and tear on their bodies just for the chance to add another gold implement to their trophy case.

The selling of golf in the Olympics is particularly puzzling.  On the men’s side there are two majors, a few World Golf Championships, a FedEx Cup Championship, and a Ryder Cup already putting demands on their schedules in a two month period.  Where does a week off in appetizing Rio fit into this.  For the women who already have a dominated foreign presence who needs to expose the sport even more in South Korea, China, or Spain than it already is.

What is worse is that the format for the return of golf to the Olympics is a four round individual stroke play competition.  There is no team aspect to this at all no drama of head-to-head matches.  They could have chosen a cool team format like the LPGA International Crown or a pool version of match play like the revised WGC Match Play but instead decided to make it just another medal play week on either tour.  This will create the absolute minimum of partisan displays by the fans in attendance.

Another lavish Olympic facility that few will use after the games are done

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As to the benefit to Brazil, yes they have an expensive first class Gil Hanse designed golf course as a result. But they do not have the government cash to keep it up after the games and likely do not have the regional demand of well heeled players to support it either.  Ten years from now it will look like another tired, overgrown muni with great architectural bones.

Getting back to the health, welfare, and safety considerations of these uber wealthy athletes, if you don’t need the Olympics to stoke your bank balance and help create your personal nest egg why would you willfully go to a place where you have to bring a personal body guard, a stash of bottled water, and disinfect yourself after you take a shower.  Does not seem like a sound career move.

If it wasn’t for the financial commitment  of NBC and their sponsors the Olympics would have been moved to another safer more neutral venue a year ago.  Conversations about how meaningful bringing golf back to the Olympics for growth of the game have a very hollow sound to me.

June, 2016

It has never been more evident to me that the entertainment factor in major championships has been diminished by the ability of today’s professional golfer to hit it long and hit it straight. All the trouble off the tee and into the greens have been muted by the pros ability to see and hold an intended flight line with less trepidation about the ball wandering.

Spring board club faces propel it further, launch it higher with less spin to produce roll out. Asymmetric dimple patterns on the balls are diminishing the side spin on mishit shots and thereby reducing the slice or hook that could deliver the evil decree of the trees, bunkers, or water not on the line of charm.

Scientific advances are diminishing skills required to master the game

To the chagrin of the tournament officials and members of Oakmont they have seen this in spades this week.

The short 17th which was a pivotal hole in so many of the previous majors used to require players to hit a hard draw just to get it far enough up the hill to the reach the green and then have to control the side spin to hold the line and avoid the gnarly hillside rough on either side. A disastrous bogie or worse was as likely as an eagle for those with the moxie to take on driving the green.

Players just look beyond all the mishugas on the drivable 17th hole

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This year even the modest hitters on the tour are taking dead aim over the bunkers on 17 confident that with today’s forgiving drivers they can produce the 270 carry over the nest of bunkers, hold a line to the opening, and trundle one up to give themselves an eagle opportunity. A slight fall to the left or right simply means a sand recovery from the green side bunkers which is like taking candy from a baby for these guys.

The USGA and R & A together have failed to protect the integrity of the game by letting manufacturers of clubs and balls use advanced aerospace technology to turn the game into a bomb, pitch, and putt affair.

Serious teeth have to be reintroduced to the required specs on clubs and balls to bring back the good old days of using and controlling curve to avoid the fairway bunkers and heavy rough off the tee and maneuver past the green side trouble to get at the Sunday pins.

Needless to say this would remove the need to keep lengthening courses to maintain their challenge for these events and reduce the capital budget requirements for all golf clubs trying to keep up. It would also bring back skill level and artistry of shot making and provide a much more entertaining product to watch on these Major Sundays.

June, 2016