Justin Rose won the highly coveted Olympic gold medal for Great Britan with a dazzling wedge shot into the 18th hole yesterday in Rio to edge out Sweden's Henrik Stenson by a single stroke. Yes, golf is back at the Olympics. Amen. Golf in the Olympics
was supposed to be a continuation of the theme. At the 11th hour, the
world’s top players were dropping out, giving the impression to many—and
most consequentially, to the International Olympic Committee—that the
Olympics didn’t matter to golf’s top performers. The Zika virus,
security concerns and the environmental, political and economic crisis
rocking Brazil made Rio de Janeiro an unready problem spot for the
world’s biggest gathering. Men’s golf in Rio turned out to not just exceed
expectations. From the first practice rounds early last week to the
medal ceremony on Sunday, it was the most joyful and proud golf
tournament of the year, and perhaps many years. After
Justin Rose won with the sweetest of wedge shots from tight zoysia turf
on the wonderfully conceived 18th hole of designers Gil Hanse and Amy
Alcott’s Olympic Golf Course, the game’s power brokers—Tim Finchem of
the PGA Tour, Mike Davis of the USGA, Pete Bevacqua of the PGA of
America, Martin Slumbers of the R&A and others—all sat in the front
row of the grandstand, seemingly connected by one continuous collective
smile. And now its the ladies turn. Share your picks with the Pro Golf Tour.
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