The Round Table: Is an Olympic Gold Medal more important than a Major?

Each week we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

Medals are on the line this week at the Men’s Olympic Golf competition in Paris. Back in 2016, when golf became part of the Rio Olympics after a 100+ year absence, many of the top pros took a pass. There was a bit more interest in Tokyo in 2021 but this year it seems that making the Olympic team and competing for a medal is a high priority. What has changed?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): It could be that the pro’s recognize that there is indeed some honour and prestige in competing for a gold medal, and that it doesn’t all have to have a price tag (i.e., prize money) attached to it.  I’m sure Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele have worn their gold medal pride on their sleeves.  Some of the LIV defectors may also be feeling that Olympic glory might redeem their images of greedy prima donnas, too.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): The golf landscape has changed, and hence I think the interest of players too. In time, interest in golf as a sport in the Olympics will grow.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: Justin Rose! When he won his Gold Medal, he was immensely proud and carried it everywhere to show it off. Without his exuberance, it would have been just another medal with no money but to him, his victory was pride! There seems to be some kind of new awakening among TOUR players. Once they join the TOUR, they have an instant monetary influence and seem to be more concerned with playing well and/or winning than the 1930s to 1980s ‘Old Boys. Maybe that’s the “Tiger” influence; winning is everything.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): I wonder if the golfers thought it would be a one-off, and golf wouldn’t be a long-term medal sport in the Olympics.  It seems to be pretty solid now, so players are more interested in competing for their countries, and I’m glad.  I’m not too excited to watch given the golf course, but I’ll be following along and hoping the Canadians can bring home some medals.

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: Covered six Games for a newsmagazine and so got up close and personal with a lot of Oly athletes and disturbingly with Games promotors (pimps?), profiteers, preening politicians, and IOC shills. The bulging offshore bank accounts of IOC “delegates” were even more incriminating than the steroid and drug infused muscles of the pawns. After Seoul and the saga of sacrificial lamb Ben Johnson, I said: “Enough!” Since then, have barely noticed as the IOC road show has been bought (Sochi and Beijing the most offensive examples) and the price tags inflated (hello Paris, Rio, Vancouver and the rest) and the script totally lost. Golf deserves a place in the quadrennial TV show as much as break dancing. And so it goes.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): A Gold Medal is rare – only two male and two female golfers have won one this century. So that makes it cool. Also, the Tours have amplified the importance of the Olympics by creating space in their schedules that doesn’t impact majors, Signature events or the playoffs. Medal winners get world ranking points, spots in the following year’s majors and Signature events too. Add in the honour and experience of playing for your country and getting on an Olympic team becomes a “thing,” even for pro golf’s rich and famous.

The format for the Olympic competition is four rounds of medal play. Is this the best way to determine an Olympic Champion? If not, what format would you prefer? 

Deeks: The medal format is easier to manage in many ways.  Plus, 72 holes tends to separate the wheat from the chaff, which is what I think the Olympics would prefer.  Personally, I would’ve liked to see the medal format played down to a final eight, then three matches to determine the final winner.

Loughry: Medal play is fine, but I’d like to see a mixed-team match play added too. A round-robin stroke play to rank the top 8 seeds, then match play from there.

Schurman: I like this just fine. The only realistic option would be to play a series of elimination events the week and/or days leading up to the final 72-hole tournament. The existing qualifying process is fairly stringent.

Rule: Yes, I think it’s the best option.  Obviously, a match play competition would create a great gold medal winning match, but to be fair to all competitors, and determine the best player for the week, a stroke play event is the best option.

Mumford: Two rounds of stroke play to determine the low 16 and then match play for the medals would be better in my opinion. It tests the players in both formats and sets up an exciting final weekend.

In other sports, winning an Olympic medal is the pinnacle. In professional golf, majors get most of the recognition. Should we attach more importance to winning an Olympic golf medal? Afterall, Olympic medals are handed out just once every four years while majors occur annually.

Deeks: I don’t think you can change perceptions overnight.  But I do hope winning the Olympic golf will ultimately carry as much if not more prestige as winning The Open (which is, to me, at the moment, the pinnacle in professional golf.

Loughry: When Sports are retrofitted to become an Olympic Sport, it will take a very long time for those Sports fans to see it as important as other marquee events. That is certainly the case here. But for many non-golf or young/new golf nations, seeing golf in the Olympics can only help grow the game.

Schurman: Any sport that has a prize money component already has a division between importance. Any athlete who chooses to support her/himself through playing competitively for their income is already defined differently. Today’s young players who join the TOUR are usually coming through college or university and don’t know what it was like a few short years ago. Apprenticing/aspiring hopefuls often slept in their car to afford an entry fee while competing amateurs enjoyed a comfy hotel. Players who earned every step beginning with mini-tours, and minor tours (Canadian Tour, European Tour, Asian Tour) developed a grit that is unavailable to those choosing an alternative, non-professional route. Guys like Mike Weir who persevered from bottom to top are tougher than a Sodbuster in the days of the Dust Bowl and earlier guys like Hogan and Snead were meaner than a ‘junk-yard dog. Hogan would ask you, “Does a Gold Medal pay your bills?” It’s difficult for a traditionalist (me) to suddenly anoint a Gold Medal above winning a Major when people have trouble calling the Players a Major.

Rule: It’s still relatively new as an Olympic sport and will never have the importance of pulling on a Green Jacket, but at least it’s become a legitimate tournament and one that players want to compete in and win.  It will never touch any of the majors in terms of importance, but there’s always something about competing for your country.

Mumford: Winning an Olympic medal brings recognition way beyond the golf world. While we celebrate majors, the rest of the world might be hard pressed to understand the significance of a Green Jacket or a Claret Jug. Everybody knows a Gold Medal. We should definitely attach more importance to winning one.