Pullout By Top Professionals Might Jinx Golf's Olympic Future Writes Rohit Bhardwaj

1. september 2016 | golf digest india 3130 golf digest india | september 2016
names were present in full force. With Tokyo
a much more attractive destination for the
world’s top stars, it is likely that golf will ask
for a 2nd chance.
The women’s golf competition, in con-
trast, sawallthetop-10playerspresenttobat-
tle it out for Olympic glory. World No.1 Lydia
Ko of New Zealand, the eventual winner No.
3 Korean Inbee Park and stars like Brooke
Henderson of Canada and American Lexi
Thompson, the big stars were out in force.
Poor turnout of big names may be to
do with a jam packed golfing calendar
that saw two Majors (British Open & PGA
Championship), FedEX Cup Playoffs on
the PGA Tour and Ryder Cup (a month af-
ter the Games) all in a three months stretch
around the Games, making a strong case for
burnout.
If golf were to tragically be dropped due
to insufficient support from the worlds top
stars, three golfers – Anirban Lahiri, SSP
Chowrasia and Aditi Ashok – will go down
in record books as the only Indians ever to
have participated in the Olympics.
While both SSP (tied 50th) and Anirban
(tied 57th) had a poor finish in their first
Olympic appearance, they were all unani-
mously grateful to be part of the world’s
biggest sporting spectacle. Its an experience
which other Indian greats like Two-time
Asia No. 1 Jeev Milkha Singh, three-time
Indian Open champion Jyoti Randhawa
and India’s only USPGA Tour winner – Arjun
Atwal – never enjoyed.
It took more than a century for golf’s
Olympic return, and let’s be grateful that no
matter what happens in the future, India has
three golfing Olympians in the record books.
the designers and organisers
succeeded in preserving
the ecological balance and
maintaining the natural
flora and fauna of the
marapendi course. from
crocodiles and sloths to
capybaras and burrowing
owls, golfers got a glimpse
of the friendly locals...
the women’s competition saw all the top-10 players battle
it out for Olympic glory. From World No.1 Lydia Ko of New
Zealand to Korean Inbee Park and American Lexi Thompson,
everyone had fun in the sun at the Marapendi course.
It's a wild world: (clockwise from top)
Organisers catch a snake meandering in
the rough; Plover eggs resting in one of
the bunkers; A burrowing owl, capybara and
crocodile inside the course
World No. 4 Henrik
Stenson of Sweden was
the highest-ranked player
in the men's field. He
won a silver for his effort
Top Women (rankings)
Lydia Ko (World No. 1)
Brooke M. Henderson (2)
Inbee Park (3)
Lexi Thompson (4)
Sei Young Kim (5)
Top Men (rankings)
Henrik Stenson (World No. 4)
Bubba Watson (6)
Rickie Fowler (8)
Justin Rose (9)
Danny Willett (10)
Olympic Field
WildShotsinBrazil
showing mettle: World No. 1 Lydia Ko (from left) won silver, Korean Inbee Park clinched gold and
Feng Shanshan of China grabbed bronze
Photographs Courtesy: IGFgolf.org
Olympics Special From the Bunkers
Inside The Ropes India Digest
Olympics-1.indd 30-31 8/25/2016 1:30:58 PM