Paul McGinley believes that the Olympic golf course is very similar to Kiawah Island - the venue for Rory McIlroy’s 2012 US PGA triumph.
McGinley recently took a trip to the new course just outside Rio de Janeiro to get a feel for the location and facilities, which will play host to the Games’ four-round competition in August.
The Ireland Olympic Golf Team Leader was impressed by what he saw and feels that it will suit a number of top golfers - including County Down star McIlroy.
“It has a links-feel to it,” said the Dubliner, who captained Europe to a famous Ryder Cup victory two years ago.
“It’s about a kilometre from the sea and about 8km from the Olympic Village so it’s nicely situated. It will be windy, blowing about 20, 25mph most days.
“The Australian players will feel very familiar there because it’s very similar to the tests they would see along the coast, particularly in the Sydney and Melbourne areas.
“The Americans would be familiar with this type of course because it’s similar to what they see in the Carolinas, the likes of Kiawah Island where Rory won the US PGA in 2012, and Pinehurst.
“Rory, Shane (Lowry), Graham (McDowell), Leona (Maguire) and Stephanie (Meadows) would all be familiar with this sort of course too,” said McGinley, who was in Dublin recently to watch his boyhood GAA club Ballyboden St Enda’s win the All-Ireland title on St Patrick’s day.
He continued: “It’s amazing how much quality there is at the top of the men’s game at the moment. Any time Rory tees up he is going to be one of the favourites and that doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a Major, in Europe, in America or at the Olympics.
“He will have to play very well to win a medal because the competition is fierce, particularly amongst the top 20 in the rankings, and that has to be a good thing for the game of golf.”
McGinley (pictured below at the announcement of Electric Ireland's sponsorship of Team Ireland) got a look at the Gil Hanse-designed track that will be used for the Games. He is hugely impressed by the facilities in Brazil and is expecting the course to be in ideal shape.
“If the tournament was in the morning, it would be fine - this course is primed,” he said.
McIlroy is a shoo-in to take one of the two spots on the Irish men’s team, which will go to the highest ranked golfers from the country at the mid-July cut-off point.
“Looking at the Olympics and seeing other sportspeople being so successful, why not have golf involved? The days of the amateur sportsperson at the Olympics are gone." - Paul McGinley
He remains at third in the world rankings having lost out to eventual winner Jason Day in the semi-finals of the WGC Match Play at the weekend
Shane Lowry is in pole position to take the other slot, currently standing at 26 in the rankings. Graham McDowell has work to do to catch him from 64 with three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington the real outsider at 129 in the standings.
Leona Maguire (above) and Stephanie Meadows are likely to take the two places in the women’s team.
“In women’s golf at the moment the South Koreans are dominating, but do they have this type of course over there? I don’t think so,” noted McGinley.
“There are three men in the running at the moment; Rory and Shane are in the two spots with Graham third, but he’s playing well and I would expect him to raise a gallop. Padraig has an outside chance, though he would have to do something big in the next few months.”
Golf hasn’t featured in the Olympic Games since 1904 and it was a controversial choice for inclusion alongside the more traditional roster of events.
Some argue that the sport’s highly paid stars don’t fit that well with the Olympic ideals, though McGinley is a passionate believer that golf has earned its place at the Games.
“Are you trying to tell me that Usain Bolt isn’t a professional? Or that Novak Djokovic or Jessica Ennis aren’t professionals?” he asked.
“Looking at the Olympics and seeing other sportspeople being so successful, why not have golf involved? The days of the amateur sportsperson at the Olympics are gone.
“Maybe boxing is the last sport in terms of amateurs and even at that they are almost all full-time boxers now. The mystical idea of the Olympics being for amateurs is gone.
“Golf is one of the sports with the highest participation rates in the world and the Olympic Council made a decision that they wanted to go with sports that have high participation rates.
“They made the decision to include golf and we have to celebrate this chance to be at the top table and to showcase our game. This is a chance to open up golf to people all over the world who don’t watch golf, be that in China or India or wherever.”
