Justin Rose Wins First Olympic Gold Medal For Golf in 112 Years

There’s no question that the lead up to golf’s 112 year return to the Olympics was anything but smooth.

There was the scheduling issue of trying to squeeze it into the back half of a jam packed PGA Tour season in what was also a Ryder Cup year. There was the lack of any excitement from the format, a 72 hole stroke play even, the exact same as every other week on the golf calendar. There were the issues with getting the course built. And, to top it all off, there was a general sense of apathy from many of the top golfers in the world, all who used some version of fear of zika and lack of security as their way out of competing. Even yours truly had trouble getting excited for the Olympic event. However, once they Olympics arrived and golf was being played, you could tell it was going to be special.

There was Brazilian Adilson da Silva, the “hometown” guy so to say, saying that hitting the opening tee shot of the Olympics was up there with the birth of his son in terms of significance in his life. You had the Americans Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, who had both originally planned on staying in condos they had rented, change their lodging arrangements and check into the Olympic Village as roommates to get the full Olympic experience. In fact, every single one of the 60 golfers that teed it up for the first time in 112 years in Rio all said similar things, it was a once in a lifetime experience that they would never trade in.

For what it was worth, the golf itself was pretty good over the four days, none better than Sunday’s showdown. The event opened up with Australian with Marcus Fraser firing the first 63 in Olympic history and Justin Rose making what is believed to be the first hole-in-one in Olympic golf history.

Sunday though was the ultimate payoff for everything that seemed to go wrong in the lead up to the games. The day began with the anticipated showdown of Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, who both used Saturday to separate themselves from the rest of the group. What we ended up with, was something very few expected. In what had the feel of Stenson and Phil at Troon a few weeks earlier, with Rose playing the Mickelson role, the two went shot for shot for 17 holes, constantly trading leads back and forth. All the while, Fraser, who had started the day with a small lead in the bronze medal position faulted early, giving close to half the field a chance at the podium.

While several gave valiant efforts, Matt Kuchar came out of nowhere to take the bronze and avoid having the United States team get shut out of the medals. His final round 63 might one day be viewed alongside Johnny Miller’s 63 in the final round the U.S. Open in 1973 as one of the greatest rounds of golf ever. In fact, he left a birdie putt short on 18 that would have given him that coveted 62 number.

Justin Rose might have won the gold with his two putt par on the 18th hole, but the game of golf proved it belonged in the Olympics this week, at least in regards to the men’s side. The course looked fantastic on TV and was well received by everyone in Rio and the play, especially on Sunday had all the excitement of a major championship.

Golf is already guaranteed to be a part the Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo. After that, it will be up to the IOC to decide if it will stay. If this week is any indication of what to expect at future Olympics, I think the sport will be safe for the foreseeable future.

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About Dan Hauser

As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.

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