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Murphy’s Law


Let the Flames Begin T


he Zika virus. Polluted water. A notorious crime rate and possible total economic collapse of the host nation.


With those kinds of problems,


how bad can a double-bogey be? Yes, golf is back as an Olympic


sport, just in time for the 2016 Rio Games. In case you haven’t been pay- ing attention, the Rio Games have about as much positive buzz as the USGA’s on-again, off-again ruling on Dustin Johnson at Oakmont. Golf was once an Olympic sport,


back in the 1900 Paris Games and the 1904 St. Louis Games. I don’t want to say the 1900 Olympic golf event was poorly organized, but the women’s champion—Margaret Abbot of Chicago Golf Club, who shot 47 for a 9-hole event—died in 1955 without ever knowing she was the Olympic champion. The powers that be never told her. Either that, or the Olympic


Twitter account was down that day. Here’s hoping the Rio Games will be able to inform the winner before the Games end. Question: Does golf need to be an


Olympic sport again? Answer: In a word…no. The Olympics, in general, have been victim of our oversaturated sports and media culture, where ev- erything happens too frequently and is too accessible. Nothing is magic anymore, it seems, when it’s always a click away. So why insert golf into this Olym-


pic morass, where you didn’t even know that sports like BMX cycling and trampoline gymnastics were Olympic sports? (It’s true. They are.) The suits at something called


the International Golf Federation thought it would be a good idea,


72 / NCGA.ORG / SUMMER 2016


which means they probably figured they could make money from it. Sure, they can probably disguise their greed by saying they can “grow the game” by putting it on the global stage. The truth is it will get lost in the wash. And here’s another problem:


Golf already gathers its greatest male and female players from around the world—several times a year. They’re called major championships. In other words, we have many gather- ings of the world’s best players already. Take your two traditional summer


Olympic staples—track and field, and swimming. Those medals resonate with the public because the best in


The Rio Games have as much of a positive buzz as the USGA’s ruling on Dustin Johnson at Oakmont.


the world only gather once a year, for World Championships. And let’s be honest. None of us really watches the Track and Field World Cham- pionships (Quick; where was it last year? Quick! Too late. Beijing) or the Swimming World Championships (Quick; where was it last year? Quick! Too late. Kazan, Russia). But you all know who Usain Bolt


and Michael Phelps are. Because the Olympics is a showcase for an over- looked, but worthy sport, like track or swimming.


Golf is worthy, but not overlooked. Danny Willett in a green jacket


is something the world saw. Dustin Johnson fending off pesky USGA of- ficials to win a national championship was broadcast in 170-plus countries. Seeing these guys all gather again


in Rio—a month after they contest for the Claret Jug at Troon; and two weeks after they contest for the Wanamaker


at Baltusrol—lacks what one might call the specialness of the occasion. Golf, how can I miss you if you


won’t go away? Now, don’t get me wrong. There


is, of course, history and majesty in winning an Olympic gold medal, as I was just saying to the descendants of 1900 Olympic “live” pigeon shooting champion Leon de Lunden. Serena Williams won gold in ten-


nis. So did Andy Murray. They have majors, just like golf, and yet the big names played and won gold. And I’m sure we’ll all keep half-an-eye on the golf competition. Good for them. But can you imagine today’s


pampered and spoiled golfer—where if the courtesy car isn’t a 2016 Range Rover, there will be hell to pay— playing a newly-built golf course in a non-golf nation like Brazil, with course conditions likely as sketchy as the host country’s economic forecast? These guys want big money and five- star accommodations. The Athlete’s Village ain’t The Lodge at Pebble Beach, fellas. In today’s world of excess, there’s


nothing wrong with leaving golf out of the Olympics. There’s nothing wrong with letting the traditional Olympic sports carry the load, and earn eyeballs based on history and weight of import. Sure, if a new sport comes along like snowboarding and sweeps the world’s youth, bring it in. That’s good. But golf? The royal and ancient


game predates the modern games by about several hundred years. The Olympics are just fine without golf. And vice versa.


BRIAN MURPHY hosts the KNBR morning show “Murph and Mac” and was the San Francisco Chronicle’s golf writer from 2001-04.


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