5 on-the-ground observations from Golf’s return to the Olympics

Then there’s Team USA, as mentioned, the only squad with four players. Scouting a golf course they’ve barely played gets a lot easier with four looks at it. On the 11th hole alone it was a hybrid from Schauffele, a high iron from Scheffler, a low stinger iron from Clark and a faded driver from Morikawa. That was kinda fun. 

The course is … fine. And that’s just fine

The Olympics golf experience still feels new, but the course is rather familiar territory. We’re at Le Golf National, the annual host of the French Open and the host of the 2018 Ryder Cup. (Get used to this place, European golf fans — it’ll host the French Open in just nine weeks.) 

Alex Noren won here. Guido Migliozzi won here. Tom Kim finished T6 here a year ago. Tommy Fleetwood’s epic, undefeated 2018 Ryder Cup took place here. (He also won on his own ball in 2017.) There are good vibes all around. Just don’t look for the course to punish players quite like Pinehurst, Royal Troon or Augusta National. It’s lush and green, which makes it relatively soft. There’s some rain in the forecast, which means despite the warm temps, it shouldn’t get too firm. PGA of America interim CEO Kerry Haigh is in charge of the setup this week, as he has been for previous Olympics. All of which means we can expect a finishing score in the teens-under-par. 

Scottie can win back his swoosh

Part of the charm of the Olympics is that everything feels clean from a branding perspective, even if that’s a massive nightmare for modern, corporatized athletes who possess a tendency to slap a logo on everything. To keep things as normal as possible, caddies even detach the straps from the bags they normally carry, wrap tape around any logos on the strap, and then hitch them to the new, one-off, nationalistic bags they’ll carry this week. Why? Because TopGolf didn’t sponsor Team USA — J.Lindeberg did, paying whatever hefty fee it takes to outfit the American golfers this week. 

But that sponsorship only goes so far. In many cases, brands will pay to outfit competitors during their competition, but appearances away from the venue and on the medal stand are a completely different entity. All of which means, the awkwardness Scottie Scheffler feels by wearing anything but the Nike Swoosh can be washed away by … a top-three finish. Ralph Lauren suits up Team USA during the Opening Ceremony and J.Lindeberg swags them out during the competition, but Nike owns the rights to apparel worn during medal ceremonies. If Scheffler can bag a medal, he’ll make his Nike friends doubly happy. 

Prepare to love the finishing stretch … at last

Le Golf National was once farmland, back in the 1980s when the idea for it was conceived. Now it has the reputation of being particularly penal for anyone inaccurate off the tee, in part because more than half the holes have water hazards in play. Three of those come into play on the final four holes. 

You’re forgiven if you don’t recall these holes from the Ryder Cup, but only a handful of matches reached LGN’s epic, finishing par-4. Its green (and runoff areas) are situated on an island that connects to the 15th green. Scheffler and Clark both pulled tee shots into the drink on the 18th Monday, leading the winning side to joke in their best (or worst?) French accent: “Le forfeit?”

The 15th takes on a similar shape — a shorter par-4, but with a much smaller green. The downhill, par-3 16th played into a cross-wind Monday, which makes its short-iron distance a pretty tricky one to judge. The ball is in the air for so long! Then there’s the 17th, which is the second-longest par-4 on the property. Holding on for a spot on the podium will be a bit of a grind. And rightfully so!

This is different, after all 

Part of the criticism this event faces — from players, agents, media, etc. — is that it’s not different enough from the typical golf tournaments we see week-in and week-out. At its core, it’s 72 holes of individual stroke play. But it should definitely feel a bit different.

For starters, there’s just a lone grandstand — an admittedly massive one, tucked behind the 18th green. Beneath it are the Olympic rings, behind the green and also in plain view on the 1st tee. There’s “Paris 2024” emblazoned everywhere and special tee markers that make golf genuinely feel like a tiny, growing corner of the Games, even if the Games is merely a once-every-four-years corner of the golf schedule.

It might take more than visual branding to make this week feel different with a capital D, but that’s where all the other pomp and circumstance comes in. It’s Scheffler nerding out over table tennis. Ben An, too. It’s Jon Rahm flying in from England and going straight to the Olympic Village to hang out around other athletes. It’s male golfers practicing alongside female golfers — and all these golfers trying to swap pins with other Olympians.

One question I’ve got: which other Olympians are gonna come out and watch the golf?