Rio 2016: Justin Rose and Danny Willett look to make Olympic history in absence of golf's biggest names
The Britons are carrying the sport in Rio despite the absence of top-dog Rory McIlory
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Your support makes all the difference.Justin Rose, golfer, Olympian, historymaker. Just think about that for a moment all you poster boys who decided Rio was not for you.
How you would have liked to be in Rose’s shoes, picking the ball from the cup at the par-3 fourth hole and raising it skyward to acknowledge the first hole-in-one in Olympic history.
It really hasn’t been that hard to be here; a fine course, a warm sun, a stunning setting and a populace just so grateful to have you walk among them.
On this occasion there was no car or fancy bauble to claim for holing with a 7-iron from 189 yards. Then again what perishable goods could compare with the associated thrill guaranteed to radiate across the highlights reel of Rose’s career?
“No car, but way more bragging rights,” Rose said. “When you are the first to do anything, that is something they can never take away from you. That was definitely a cool moment. It was a lovely golf shot, landed online and went in.”
A birdie at the last for an opening 67 left Rose in a tie for fourth on four under par, four off the early pace set by Australia’s Marcus Fraser. Great Britain’s Danny Willett opened with a 71.
It was only on the first tee when the great players of the world who had turned up began to understand what Olympic competition might confer upon them, and how it feels to be part of the Games.
They were announced first by the country they represented, and then by name. Rose seemed to grow a foot at the association with Great Britain, the stands behind the first tee, only modest in scale, thronged with punters waving the flag of the union.
This was the point at which the players recognised they were part of something greater than themselves, the act of representation adding a dimension that is difficult to comprehend in abstract. And no, the Ryder Cup is not the same, despite the sense of belonging engendered by being part of a team.
Rose smacked his opening tee shot down the middle. He was an Olympian now, which even for a major winner like him, was a departure, something to treasure. The lesson for Rory McIlroy, who thought golf at these Games an irrelevance, was unmistakable, this stuff does matter.
“There is so much more to this week than the golf. It is the camaraderie between the teams, the camaraderie in the Olympic Village, just the sheer scale of the Olympics. Should golf be a part of it? Why not? Does it need to be a part of it? Probably not. We would survive. But if you have the opportunity to be part of it why wouldn’t you take it?”
And the feeling on that first tee? “Only in the Ryder Cup is there that much patriotic support. That is what made it so special today. And out on the course, pockets of support, seeing the Union Jack out there definitely felt like a unique experience.”
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