Golf's elders and future planners can breathe more easily. With a simple birdie putt and a clenched fist, Justin Rose relieved Canadian George Lyon of the Olympic golf title he has held for 112 years.
Maybe golf's return to the Olympics was not quite an answer to Watson and Nicklaus's sepia-soaked Duel in the Sun of '76. But the weather was dreamy hot in Rio and a lively tournament went down to the very last shot. And, unlike so many of the Olympics' feted events, the people turned up to see this one.
It was hard not to imagine that the roll call of superstars who passed on Rio didn't feel a pang of regret if they saw the clear delight on Rose's face, who finally shook off a riveting deadlock with Henrik Stenson by producing a sumptuous chip from 25 yards to within two feet of the 18th pin.
That gave Great Britain another gold medal. Even if Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who copped the most flak for failing to make himself available for Rio, was indeed watching the synchronised diving or some of the other Olympics sports “that matter”, it seems inevitable that the food-lines of the athlete’s village exist in his future.
For now, though, golf has a deserving Olympic champion for Rose has long been an evangelist for its return.
“Honestly, this is just a dream come true,” Rose said.
“I’ve been thinking about Rio for a long time and hoping my ranking level would allow me to compete at the Olympic games. It took world-class golf to win today and I’m very proud of the achievement.”
Caught fire
For an hour or so, the possibility of a truly fabulous Olympic story opened up in front of Waterford’s
Seamus Power
as he caught fire through the opening 10 holes to go to seven under on the leader board.
Rose and Stenson had established that the shoot-out for gold and silver laurels would be theirs alone, but it was a terrifically accomplished closing round by the 29-year-old, who earned his PGA tour card for next season. On the 514th yard 12th hole, a punishing par four, Power was just one shot outside the bronze medal bracket.
Ireland manager team manager Paul McGinley, prohibited from actually advising his players on the field, studied his player from the fringes.
“No matter what happens, he’s giving the whole country a buzz,” McGinley said as Power prepared to play out of the bunker on the par fourth 14th hole. He felt that Power would need a 10-under finish in order to place himself in medal contention. The hope was that he could make a charge over the closing four holes.
The opposite happened. Power’s chip out of the sand had a good line but spun back and died on the green and his long putt to save par lipped to the right of the cup. His following tee-shot drifted radically right and when he was denied relief for an embedded lie, his second shot didn’t travel. And when he double-bogeyed on the green, the dream receded. A birdie putt in front of an enthusiastic gallery gave him a five under finish for the Olympic tournament.
“I gave it everything I have and it just wasn’t quite there,” Power said afterwards. The experience gave him an insightful exploration of the survival habits at the elite end of golf’s food chain. Each shot through the outward nine deepened his conviction that he could live with golf’s stellar names.
Nervous
“You see these guys on TV and sometimes you think they’re doing things that you can’t do. So just to see it up close was great. Just to even play the practice rounds with Padraig, that was probably the most nervous I was this week.”
Harrington’s time in Rio damaged the reputation of the city’s mosquitoes and did much to advance the concept of golf as Olympic sport. His first-day thrill gave way to a frustrating closing afternoon badly compromised by a recurrence of a muscle injury on the right side of his neck.
“A bit of a dodgy pillow caught me out this week,” he sighed, his face glistening after a round which gave no relief from the midday Brazilian sun. He carded a two-over round, giving him a three under finish.
As Harrington struggled, his playing partner Matt Kuchar fell into a trance-like golf round, finding only one bunker all afternoon and surging up the leaderboard with an eight-under bronze medal finish. Kuchar was mocked for not knowing the Olympic format before he arrived last week but it didn't hurt his game.
Harrington had been unaware of his Irish team-mate’s acceleration into unexpected contention but saw enough of his game to forecast that Power can flourish outside the shark net.
“He certainly has the physical game to do it so it’s just how quickly he becomes comfortable out there is the only question.”
Harrington leaves frustrated that his body rather than his game interrupted his Rio adventure. But there are the consolations of following his fellow Olympians.
“I’m going off to see Usain Bolt this evening.”
And that’s not something you get to say after battling the gales and ghosts of Carnoustie.
