(ATR) Tour pros teeing it up at the President’s Cup are ecstatic that Olympic golf has been extended through Paris 2024.
No one is more thrilled than Rio 2016 bronze medalist Matt Kuchar.
"It’s fantastic – Paris will be great," Kuchar told Around the Rings at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. "We have Ryder Cup coming up there next year. I’ve played that course and thought it was fantastic."
Kuchar, 39, who has his bronze medal with him at the 12th President’s Cup this week, will try to qualify for the U.S. team for a second time come Tokyo 2020.
"What happened in Rio was great for golf – it’s only going to become a bigger, better event, held in a higher regard.
"I see Tokyo and the years moving forward as being something everyone fights to be a part of."
Emiliano Grillo of Argentina – who finished tied for eighth in Rio – said his sport absolutely deserves the vote of confidence by the IOC.
"Golf is the hardest sport on the planet, so it’s the first sport that should be up there," said the 25-year-old rising talent.
"Everybody now wants to win a gold medal, looking back and seeing how much it meant to Justin Rose, so I’m definitely looking forward to Tokyo 2020," Grillo said referring to the 2016 Olympic champion from Great Britain.
The International Olympic Committee approved golf, retaining the 28 core sports for Paris 2024, at the recent session in Lima.
"Golf is going to be one of the highlight sports in Tokyo and I’m really glad the IOC decided to continue golf being a part of the Olympics," said Anirban Lahiri of India, a 2016 Olympian.
"It’s a great opportunity and a great platform to showcase ourselves."
The excitement comes despite a lukewarm reception exhibited by numerous players in the lead-up to the golf’s return to the Olympic program in Rio after a 112-year absence. Numerous top golf pros opted out of the Olympics citing the Zika virus as a major concern.
South African Charl Schwartzel was among those players.
"That virus was the only reason I didn’t go to Rio because we were trying to start a family at the time," Schwartzel said.
The 2011 Masters champion, who hopes to play in Tokyo 2020, believes that the sport’s Olympic future is bright.
"The more you can expose the game, the better for everyone," Schwartzel said. "There is no bigger event than the Olympics, so to be a part of that is a great deal."
Twenty-four players – including six Olympians – are competing in the team event which pits the USA vs. the World at Liberty National Golf Club this week. The Manhattan skyline, Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty provide a stunning backdrop for the showcase event.
Patrick Reed, one of the U.S. rising stars, qualified for Rio only after countrymen Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson decided to stay home.
"To be able to call yourself an Olympian, play for your country and wear red, white and blue, you just stand proud," Reed said.
"It’s huge to have the Olympics and golf together because we’re trying to grow the game," he added. "The easiest way to do that is to get as many top venues as possible – Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups, Olympics around the whole world."
The U.S. boasts a 9-1-1 advantage over the international team in the eleven previous editions of the President’s Cup. International team captain Nick Price believes that golf’s burgeoning talent pool outside of the traditional countries will improve their chances this week and in the future.
The 18-time PGA tournament winner from Zimbabwe said the extension of Olympic status is a "great thing for golf".
"It’s about all those guys from Ecuador and other places being on the golf course with their idols and being in the opening and closing ceremony," Price said. "In Tokyo, everyone will want to go."
In addition to perennial golf powers like Australia and South Africa, the international team at the President’s Cup is also represented by players from Japan, South Korea, Argentina, India and Venezuela.
The highest ranked player on the international squad is Hideki Matsuyama of Japan. Currently number three in the world, the 25-year-old Japanese star could become a national hero with a medal-winning performance at the home games in 2020.
"Rio was great, but Japan is a huge golf-loving nation," Lahiri said. "Golf is like a religion there. Tokyo is going to be fantastic."
The President’s Cup first tee ceremony is expected to be attended by former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
The U.S. and World teams begin the four-day competition with five fourballs matches beginning at 1p.m ET on Thursday afternoon.
The biannual event concludes on Sunday with the winning team raising the President’s Cup.
Written by Brian Pinelli in Jersey City, New Jersey.
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