The news golf has an Olympic future barely caused a ripple but should be shouted from rooftops – provided the formats are more imaginative than in RioIt felt like a classic case of missed opportunity. Olympic golf had been beset by such a wave of negative publicity before the actual event got under way in Rio that the success of the competition itself, plus the weight Justin Rose placed in victory, was much needed. So, too, was the news that golf had finally and formally been retained as an Olympic sport for 2024 in Paris.Yet it was a case of blink and you’d miss the latter situation. Rather than celebrate a stirring recovery from the point where players questioned the...
A promising comeback at the Hero World Challenge has led to optimism but only after greater tests will we know if the former No1 is the real deal againPerhaps the smartest conclusion would be to avoid drawing any from the Hero World Challenge. A year ago, after equalling tournament winner Hideki Matsuyama for number of birdies over four rounds, Tiger Woods departed the tournament supposedly on the verge of a great renaissance.Woods spoke positively about the future, just as the wave of expectation surrounding him rose once more. By the start of February, Woods cut a stricken figure as he limped from the Dubai Desert Classic whilst unable to counteract back spasms beyond 18 holes. It would be easy to...
Players should not be expected to promote a tournament for nothing but at some level being paid regardless of performance surely contradicts the ethos of sportIf the basis for judging Keith Pelley is the bottom line, the European Tour’s chief executive appears worthy of high praise.A year ago, Graeme Storm retained his tour card when 111th in the rankings with seasonal earnings of €247,000. Marcel Siem has survived into 2018 while lying 101st in the order of merit; his 2017 winnings are €388,000. Tom Lewis, who finished 135th, headed to qualifying school with the hardly insignificant fallback of €227,000. Boosted by the introduction of Rolex Series events, with prize pots a minimum of $7m, there is a legitimate argument that...
In-form Masters runner-up, so bruised by his play-off defeat at Augusta, can end on a high in DP World Tour Championship where he has unfinished businessThose who belittle the value of an order of merit chase may need to look away now. The Race to Dubai has never seemed more appropriately named, given the appealing pursuit likely to occur in the Middle East from Thursday. That two Englishmen are at the forefront of proceedings both adds allure and to the sense that the nation’s golfers – plus their recurring success – are not appropriately recognised at home.If Tommy Fleetwood had any doubts regarding whether to play in this weekend’s Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, they were forcibly removed by the...
Woods has endured another troubled year culminating in pleading guilty to reckless driving but he is remodelling himself as a mentor as well as a competitor as he plots his latest returnWhatever else Tiger Woods may have developed during his latest lengthy absence from competitive golf there appears a new willingness to display a sense of humour.That Woods privately does a sharp line in wit has been insisted upon for years by those who know him, and the 41-year-old has raised smiles by offering thanks to “the committee of one for picking myself to play” in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas at the end of November. Woods essentially hosts the tournament, managed by one of his companies, and...