May the best Olympic golfer win!

Tokyo tests the world’s best golfers

An Austrian golfer, Sepp Straka completed the first round of the Olympic Games in Tokyo (29 July-1 August) at the par-71 Kasumigazeki Country Club near Tokyo with an enchanting score of 8-under par 63. His round captured an amazing 4 birdies in the last six holes. The 28-year old from Wenen took a magical step forward in the special Olympic 60-man field. On a day of extremely low-scoring, second place goes to Jazz Janewattanond (Thailand) with an impressive 64. In third place is Thomas Pieters (Belgium), who missed the bronze medal by one in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and Carlos Ortiz (Mexico) who both shot a highly-creditable 5-under par 65. But this is only day one.

The Kasumigazeki Country Club, located just 40 minutes north of Tokyo, opened as the first 36-hole complex in Japan. It stretches out over more than 7,500 yards and carries an intriguing charm and elegance with its many beautiful Japanese cypress tree-lined fairways. There has been a mixed bag of weather all week from scorching hot to a spell of typhoon storms. And that is something that golfers are having to get used to around the world these days.

Patiently waiting their turn in the shadows keen to make their mark at this year’s Olympics are British players Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood. They both got off to a solid start on day one scoring 67 and 70, respectively. Olympic Champion from 2016, Justin Rose from England, will be keenly watching their progress over the next few days.

Former Major Champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry from Ireland are also determined to leave a good impression in Tokyo. McIlroy opened with a 2-under par 69 but with three more rounds to go anything could happen. Lowry is one shot behind McIlroy.

So what about the Americans?

Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele both came in at 3-under as did Japan’s super star, Hideki Matsuyama. Indeed, there were only 13 players in the field of 60 who were above par.

By the way, are you wondering how the new Open Champion from Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent is coping in Japan? Well, the 24-year old American is pacing himself very nicely with an opening round of 69. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Sadly though, on a day of low-scoring, he is in a tie for 20th place along with Rory McIlroy.

It is a very special year this year – July 2021. A year after the Olympics were due to be held in 2020, the games are finally now going ahead. For the second time in more than 100 years, sixty of the world’s best golfers are battling it out in the strokeplay championships (individual men’s and women’s) at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Not only will the best players have the proud moment of collecting a medal for their personal achievements, but victory will also give their country an enormous boost in the tally of medals.

Wendy Hoad