Rio 2016 golf: excitement builds as field including six major winners prepares for battle
Bubba Watson and Danny Willett and Sergio Garcia just some of the golfers who are excited to be part of history at Rio 2016
"The most fun I have had for a long time." Danny Willett is having a blast at Rio 2016 (Photo: Getty Images/Ross Kinnaird)
Golf returns to the Olympic Games on Thursday morning after a 112-year absence amid a deluge of late-order positivity, despite negative headlines that have surrounded the build-up to the tournament. Brazilian native Adilson da Silva will be the first to tee off at 7:30 am.
Willett on the 6th hole during a practice round at Olympic Golf Course (Getty Images/Ross Kinnaird)
"You don't often get as strong a field as we have here unless you are paying guys millions of dollars to turn up," Great Britain's Danny Willett said after his first practice round at the Olympic Golf Course.
In a stroke the 2016 US Masters champion put to bed the frenzy that surfaced when the world's top-four ranked male golfers pulled out of the Rio 2016 Games earlier this year.
Top-quality line-up
The field gathered for the first men's Olympic golf competition since 1904 features six major winners, including two of the 2016 champions (Willett and Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden) and seven of the world's current top 15.
Such quality prompted USA golfer Bubba Watson to declare on Tuesday that "a medal of any colour" would be a "thrill of a lifetime" and would hang next to his two green jackets.
The 2012 and 2014 US Masters champion is vying for top billing with world number five Stenson, who has finished in the top 10 in four of his last six tournaments, winning two of them.
With 33 national Olympic committees (NOCs) represented, including Bangladesh's first ever professional golfer Siddikur Rahman, the sport has embraced the Olympic ideal. It has been a popular move.
"This has been the most fun I have had for a long time," Willett said after the novel sensation of preparing to play golf for a medal.
Sergio Garcia hits a tee shot during a practice round on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Photo: Getty Images/Scott Halleran)
The 60 entrants in the men's event compete over four rounds of strokeplay, with no cut. The Gil Hanse-designed test, built for the purpose, has received consistent praise. Open off the tee, the links-style set-up will be reliant on wind and its tight, tricky greens to bring the best out of the best.
"I'm expecting it to be a great success no matter what. I don't see why it shouldn't," Garcia said. Olympic Games tickets are available to buy on the Rio 2016 portal
