Rickie Fowler’s been in Rio since Friday, having a blast, no doubt.
Rickie’s right at home in the Olympic Village. He’s 27 going on 17. One day, Rickie will be dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood, but not yet.
The Peter Pan of the PGA Tour was having the time of his life walking in the opening ceremonies on Friday night, hanging out with Michael Phelps and who knows else?
But this week Fowler’s got to get down to work. He was out on the Olympic golf course Sunday, getting blown around by 35 mile-per-hour winds. Don’t know how much work he got in.
Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar, the rest of the American team, flew out Sunday night, to arrive in Rio who knows when?
The question we pose to you today is this:
Are the American players up to the task? Will any of them win a medal?
Before we answer that, let’s take a look at what’s in front of them and the rest of the field when play begins on Thursday.
What you have here, this week, is basically a European Tour event. Solid field, decent players, but devoid of the the world’s top four stars. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are sitting this one out.
The layout is more European than American.
First, consider the layout is basically a tropical links course. If the winds come up like they did on Sunday, things could get testy in a hurry.
Let’s break down our team.
Bubba Watson: At No. 6 in the world, Watson is the highest-ranked American in Rio. There’s only one caveat and it’s a big one. Bubba has never won outside the United States. He totally dislikes the European Tour but doesn’t mind showing up once in a while to collect a big fat appearance fee. Bubba won in L.A. last February but hasn’t done squat since. He had a miserable major season — T37 at Augusta, T51 at the U.S. Open, T39 at the British and T60 at the PGA. Left The Travelers after a seven-under par finish.
Rickie Fowler: At No. 7, he’s right behind Bubba. Hasn’t won this year. Missed the cut at the Masters and U.S. Open, T46 at the British and T33 at the PGA. He’s scouting the course for the rest who won’t have much prep time on a course they’ve never seen. Rickie has won in Scotland and Abu Dhabi. No problem mixing it up with the European players.
Patrick Reed: Reed is ranked 14th, hasn’t won this year. He went T49 at Augusta, missed the cut at the U.S. Open, T12 at the British and T13 at the PGA. He is trending in the right direction. Shot 66 on Sunday at The Travelers and finished nine-under. Reed did win on the European Tour — the 2015 BMW International.
Matt Kuchar: Like Fowler and Reed, Kuchar hasn’t won this year. He went T24 at the Masters, T46 at the U.S. Open, T46 at the British and missed the cut at the PGA. He did shoot 65 on Sunday and finished eight-under at The Travelers. Kooch has one victory outside the U.S., the Fiji International in 2015.
So you can see none of our guys have had a very good major season. Reed had decent showing in the final two but between our four “Olympians” there’s not one who managed to finish in the top 10 in a major championship this season. There are some who want to say this gold medal stuff is akin to winning a major. It may be that way in swimming and gymnastics, but certainly not in golf.
Combine our “Olympians” and you only have four intentional wins.
And this will be an international competition.
Who has the best shot at a medal? You would have to go with Reed and Fowler.
Fowler’s probably the most excited to be there — the enthusiasm of youth surrounded by a lot of youthful enthusiasm in the Olympic Village.
At the end of Sunday, the U.S. had already compiled 12 medals to lead all countries: three Gold, five Silver and four Bronze.
Michael Phelps has already won his 19th, yes 19th Gold.
And you’ll remember that Rickie was hanging out with Phelps.
Hopefully the Gold Fever is contagious.
