But then there’s the negative side – the feeling that golf is mired in problems entirely of its own making and becoming increasingly peripheral in the post-Tiger Woods era. There are the frequent rules fiascos, like the one that farcically dominated the final round at the U.S. Open, the bane of slow play and golf’s general reluctance to modernise and accept that changes need to be made to appeal to a younger, more demanding audience. Golf and its players can appear detached from the wider sporting community, evidenced by the widespread refusal by many of its top players to embrace golf’s return to the Olympics.

Should golf be an Olympic sport? It’s an endlessly debatable point but in truth, those still stuck on that argument cannot claim to have the game’s best interests at heart. The Olympics may not have the power to unite a single nation in the same way that the FIFA World Cup does, but no event on the planet has the capacity to better capture the imagination of the wider public than the Games. And it’s not even close. The Olympics is an utterly immersive celebration of the very best of sport and its most dedicated and talented athletes, and this year, golf got a chance to be a part of that show. How could that be anything other than a wonderful opportunity?

Rory McIlroy did golf no favours when he declared that he would only be watching the Olympic events ‘that matter’

I understand why Rory McIlroy snapped at the Open Championship after fielding probably his 1,500^th tedious question on the Olympics. But in saying he would only watch the events “that matter”, McIlroy entirely missed the point. They all matter. Every medal adds to a country’s tally. Every Olympian, from Michael Phelps to Justin Rose, is part of the wider, national effort. And if tennis – another individual sport with four majors, a Davis Cup and a host of other tour events to mirror golf’s own set-up – can place a gold medal right up there alongside Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, whose to say golf can’t finally find its fifth major?

You only have to see the tears shed by both Novak Djokovic in defeat (describing his early loss to Juan Martin Del Potro as among the toughest of his career) and double gold-medal winner Andy Murray in victory – to instantly appreciate that this prize is every bit as precious as a grand slam. And I would love to know if Rose’s gold yesterday was indeed more special to him than his only major to date at Merion three years ago. I think we might be surprised by his answer.

Try telling Justin Rose his gold medal wasn’t as significant as a major championship

So, after all the debate, the drop-outs and the negative headlines, the Olympics staged a golf tournament, and it came good. No disrespect to Marcus Fraser, but this event needed Henrik Stenson going toe-to-toe with Justin Rose down the stretch. It needed to be a great advert for the game, and it undoubtedly was. The Gil Hanse golf course was a revelation, and I’m hearing that his layout here in the UAE at the Trump International Dubai will be every bit as good.

But more importantly, the players embraced it. This wasn’t a sideshow at some outpost miles from the Olympic Village. Sunday’s final round was a 15,000 sell-out, which for a non-golfing country like Brazil was mightily impressive. And clearly judging by their willingness to excitedly pick up players’ balls, many of the spectators had never so much as set foot on a golf course before. Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia both called Rio 2016 the greatest week in their careers. Matt Kuchar said he had never been so proud to finish third. This was no run-of-the-mill tour event.

And at the climax, we saw a piece of skill from Justin Rose that epitomised everything that is so great about this game. A pitch on the 72^nd hole when everything was on the line – it was a stroke that called for both enormous skill and nerveless execution – and was worthy of golf’s first gold medal in 112 years.

A short while after that, Tiger Woods was offering his congratulations to all who took part and Jordan Spieth (somewhat sheepishly) followed suit, stating his goal to qualify for Japan 2020. We can only hope the Zika virus hasn’t found its way to the Far East by then. Something tells me there might be some humble pie on the menu at a few press conferences over the coming weeks.

The post Blog: Reflecting on golf’s return to the Olympic Games appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero,” McIlroy said in a statement.

Related: Golf is making heavy work of its Olympic return

“After speaking with those closest to me, I’ve come to realise that my health and my family’s health comes before anything else. Even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless and a risk I am unwilling to take.”

Golf’s return to the Olympic stage has already been blighted by negative headlines. Adam Scott was the first high profile player to withdraw, and the 2013 Masters champion was soon followed by Vijay Singh and South African major winners Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen. Furthermore, there have been significant problems and delays in the construction of the Gil Hanse designed course, and the decision to play a routine 72-hole individual stroke-play format has been criticised.

But McIlroy’s withdrawal is by far the worst news to hit golf’s Olympic return. The World No.4 is the biggest star of this talented generation and his absence is a bitter blow given that a decision will be made next year on whether to extend golf’s stay in the Olympics beyond Japan 2020. There has been plenty of debate within the game as to whether golf really needs the Olympics, but if more high profile withdrawals follow McIlroy’s, the Olympics may well decide it doesn’t need golf.

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By Robbie Greenfield

No one knows what kind of lasting impact the Olympics will have on golf, which makes its return to the planet’s foremost sporting spectacle in Rio de Janeiro this summer after an absence of over a century. Unfortunately, golf might give up its seat at the table before any real impact – positive or otherwise – can even be measured.

As it stands, golf will be played at The Olympics in Rio this summer, and in Japan, four years down the line, with a vote due in 2017 on whether to extend its participation. In other words, it only has this upcoming Olympic Games, and a grand total of 72 holes to make a really good impression. Let’s hope the tournament itself does a better job of this than a build-up that has largely been mired in controversy.

The sport’s governing bodies fought tooth and nail to earn golf a spot at the world’s most-watched sports event, convinced that this added exposure could bring new people to the game and give golf a much-needed platform for growth.

It’s a formula that has worked well for tennis. While no one in that sport would argue that an Olympic gold medal supersedes a grand slam title, the Games has nonetheless carved out a special place on the tennis calendar. Andy Murray’s triumph on his home soil at Wimbledon in 2012 was the catalyst that propelled him to his only two grand slam victories to date, the U.S. Open later that year and then Wimbledon, on the very same Centre Court in 2013.

There’s no doubt a sustained run in the Olympics has helped tennis, with 2012 men’s gold medal winner Andy Murray using his home triumph as a springboard to two grand slam trophies

So clearly, golf has a tremendous opportunity for a much-needed boost to its popularity and global stature, not to mention a prize that could one day rank among the most cherished in the game. And so far, a general indifference to golf’s place on the Olympic roster among both players and influential voices within the sport has seen enthusiasm fight a losing battle with skepticism. ‘Golf is not an Olympic sport’ is the go-to refrain, with more pressing priorities in the midst of a crowded schedule the favoured excuse of those players, such as Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, who have been quick to announce that they will be nowhere near Rio.

And on the surface at least, they are right. Golf certainly doesn’t fit the mold of an Olympic sport, but then the same could be said of almost any discipline outside the traditional realms of track and field, cycling and swimming. So do golf’s Olympic credentials really matter here? Instead of making sure the top players had fully bought into the push to get golf back in The Games and the potential benefits this could bring, so far all we’ve seen is one negative headline after another.

Adam Scott baffled the world of golf when he announced that he would be missing golf’s return to the Olympics. He was soon followed by Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Vijay Singh

We’re now in the embarrassing position where players are either openly rejecting the Olympics, or merely lukewarm about its appeal. Earlier this month Rory McIlroy (who has warmed to the cause after the blunt comparisons he made between a gold medal and a major earlier this year in Abu Dhabi), voiced his concerns over whether golf will remain an Olympic sport beyond 2020. And I’d say the chances are starting to look slim. If golf doesn’t wholeheartedly believe that it deserves to be there, why should the International Olympic Committee?

If golf’s rulemakers had been more imaginative with the format, this pessimistic outlook could have been avoided. The Olympics was surely crying out for a pairs format that could conjure the same kind of patriotic energy that we see in the Ryder Cup. Better yet, it was a perfect chance to bring the men’s and women’s games under the same banner with a mixed contest. How great would it have been to see Jordan Spieth and Lexi Thompson go up against Jason Day and Minjee Lee in a foursomes or betterball event? Golf had the opportunity to bring something unique to Rio, that could excite both the players and the fans. Instead, it will be another routine 72-hole stroke play event.

For all the effort golf has made to get there, it appears whatever opportunity the Olympics may afford is in danger of being squandered anyway.

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s a general rule of thumb, golfers love a stock answer, and there are several reasons for this. First and foremost, they get asked the same questions by people like me over and over again, and I can only imagine how tedious that is.

Better to have something pre-prepared, like the verbal equivalent of an ‘out-of-office’ email notification. “I enjoy playing in the Middle East because the weather and the courses are brilliant. I will be engaging my brain again in 10 minutes when this is over. If your enquiry is urgent, please consult my manager.”

Secondly, stock answers are a sure-fire way of avoiding controversy, which no player wants. In this modern age of 24-7 digitally hyperactive global scrutiny, generally when a player says something candid and honest, he ends up regretting it. Tiger Woods turned the canned response into an artform, and many have followed his example (the irony being that now Tiger is indefinitely retired, he has abandoned his library of jargon completely and is saying all sorts of interesting and insightful things).

Finally, the player may just really mean it. Yes, they love playing in the Middle East; who wouldn’t? Yes, they want to win a Masters, or an Open and play in the Ryder Cup. Sometimes, stock answers don’t need to be suspicious. They’re just facts.

But covering last month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, it was clearly evident to me that the golfing fraternity has not gotten together and figured out a party line on the Olympic Games yet. They’re not even close.

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What they say

“I think this year we’re going to approach it as a fifth major and we’re going to prepare like it is. I’m going to go down there and try and take care of business.” – Jordan Spieth

“If I can win or if I can compete and at least have a chance, and go to other sports, watch them and see how much heart they put into it, I think that is what the Olympic Games are all about, and that’s why I think it would be amazing to be successful there.” – Martin Kaymer

“I guess if I had to choose, I might take a major championship by a couple of per cent. But if I win the gold medal, I might tell you differently.” – Henrik Stenson

“A major is a major and it’s always going to be a major. Up until this year, the Olympics was never really even a thought for us. So they are just completely different ends of the spectrum.” – Rickie Fowler 

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Rory McIlroy had answered “major” before the journalist in question had even finished asking him if he’d take an Olympic gold medal or one of golf’s big four prizes. Martin Kaymer, meanwhile, had a totally different take. “I will only get to play in three Olympics over the course of my career, whereas I will have many more chances to win a major,” he reasoned.

When put to Spieth, he ended up explaining how winning the Ryder Cup was top of the to-do list. It seems just the mere mention of the Olympics is enough to cause confusion.

It’s the hot topic in golf, but the players themselves all have a different view on where The Olympics will fit in.

Most of the top players point out that for now, it’s all just speculation. There is a contingent of older pros who believe it should have been awarded to amateur golf, but the reality is that if its inclusion in the Olympics is really going to act as a driver for new golfers, we need the top stars in attendance, and we need them to be taking it as seriously as possible. Ultimately, we don’t know how golf will embrace the Games, or what impact the Games will have on golf. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy asking.

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