We prefer a pot of gold

The debate concerning golf’s right to be in the Olympics is not as simplistic as it is currently being made out.

It is my personal view that the sport should make every effort to ensure that Olympic competition is the pinnacle – or as close to it as possible. However, when the decision was taken in 2009 to include the sport my suspicion is that the IOC was trying to tap into the growing popularity of golf.

Certain assurances were made that all of the top players would be supportive and this is where golf has shot itself in the foot.

I don’t believe that anyone can be critical of individuals choosing not to travel to Brazil due to health concerns, particularly when, in the case of Jordan Speith, he claims: ‘everyone would have made the same decision if they were in my situation’ which hints that there may be more to his circumstances than meets the eye.

However, golf has had a far higher percentage of withdrawals than any other sport while several have openly admitted that they are not interested in the Olympic competition and bemoan the clustering it has caused in the schedule.

Certainly no-one can dispute the risks given the warnings from the World Health Organisation concerning exposure to the mosquito-born virus in particular although, in drawing attention to a potential over-reaction, president of the International Golf Federation, Peter Dawson, takes ‘great heart’ from the fact that they haven’t lost a green-keeper yet!

The most withering criticism from any of the six players ranked in the top 10 has come from Rory McIlroy who suggested his sport is irrelevant in the context of the greatest and would watch the ‘stuff that matters like track and field, swimming and diving’.

The Northern Irish superstar subsequently clarified that he believed that he learned the sport to win trophies not to grow the game and draw more people into the sport.

It is a shame that he does not yet recognise that he bears this responsibility whether he accepts it or not. If his predecessors had adopted a similar attitude then he would not be in the privileged position that he now is.

Hundreds of people invested countless hours into securing the re-inclusion of golf into the greatest sporting spectacle after a 112-year absence

However, he should also be applauded for speaking his mind. In the same interview he also highlighted the lack of drug testing in his sport while demonstrating a level of naivety that there were few substances that could help.

Not all of the top players have withdrawn. Danny Willett, the Masters Champion, is looking forward to representing his country and playing alongside his teammates, while questioning whether players would withdraw from an event in South Africa where ‘there is a greater chance of catching malaria than Zika’.

It should also be noted that the whole of women’s golf has been hugely enthusiastic about its participation.

I also believe that the golfing authorities could have done more to create a unique event. The joy of the Olympics is the team participation and yet they have chosen to retain the standard four-day individual format.

Perhaps a country-based knock-out competition in matchplay format would have made the event more engrossing while also providing a thrilling climax leading to a gold medal.

Even so, no matter what the format, golf and the Olympics would have struggled to overturn the history associated with the Majors. This is perhaps exemplified by the opening round at Troon where Phil Mickelson narrowly missed shooting a 62.

Johnny Miller (1973), Jack Nicklaus (1980), Gary Player (1984) and Greg Norman (1986) have all been ‘cursed by the golf Gods’ described by the US-leftie while trying to explain how his chance at golfing immortality had taken a left turn.

No-one in history has scored lower than a 63 in an Open and his short putt that ‘lipped out’ on the 18th means he has probably come the closest.

It is this ‘history’ that the Olympics is competing against in golf – yet you have to be in it to give it a chance.

Golf will be present in 2020 in Japan and will need to up its game collectively and individually. At the moment there are far more deserving sports.

***

Record-breaking Swede Henrik Stenson became the first Scandinavian male to capture a major when he won the British Open on Sunday, beating Phil Mickelson in an extraordinary final-round duel.

The world number six shot a brilliant closing eight-under-par 63 to finish 20-under on 264, three ahead of playing partner Mickelson (65).

The 40-year-old Stenson’s round equalled the lowest in any major championship and his winning total also represented a new British Open record.

“Wow, this will take a little while to sink in,” said Stenson as he held aloft the coveted Claret Jug. “I’m still trying to find my bearings here. I want to thank Phil for a fantastic battle. We played some great golf and I’m delighted to come out on top.”

Like two prize fighters in a ring, the two men traded blow after stunning blow, reeling off birdie after birdie to turn the final day of golf’s oldest major into a two-way procession.

The rest of the field were nowhere with American JB Holmes (69) taking third position on 278, 11 strokes behind Mickelson as the leading pair evoked memories of the spectacular ‘duel in the sun’ Turnberry Open of 1977 when Tom Watson edged out Jack Nicklaus in another epic head-to-head.

Steve Stricker (69) of the US was in fourth place on 279, one in front of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton of England and Spaniard Sergio Garcia.

A select group of ‘special ones’ took off from Bahrain International Airport on Saturday night for a week of intensive training with Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) coaches, courtesy of telecom company VIVA Bahrain’s partnership with the English Premiership giants.

More than 400 young players, boys and girls aged between 12 and 15, took part in a series of trial matches in April trying to impress UEFA-qualified, MUSS coaches flown into Bahrain from the UK.

The following day around 60 shortlisted youngsters underwent tough training sessions and the top 20 players won an all-expenses paid trip to United’s training ground In Carrington - the same place where the first team stars train.

Eighteen of the party flew out from the kingdom and met up with the remaining two who were already on holiday in the UK.

They all checked in safely to a Manchester hotel on Sunday morning and in the afternoon enjoyed a tour of Old Trafford, the ‘theatre of dreams’ where United play their home games.

Serious coaching started on Monday and on the final day of the experience the squad will play a competitive fixture against a team of youngsters representing a sister telecom company based in Kuwait for Gulf bragging rights.

The party members also have their fingers crossed they will bump into recently-appointed coach Jose ‘The Special One’ Mourinho and former Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The VIVA MUSS programme is one of several grassroots community-driven initiatives that have impressively grown since its inception. To date, it has benefitted 117 local youngsters from various cultural backgrounds through its exclusive partnership with the football club.