Opinion | Golf and gold medal winner Justin Rose tick all the right Olympic Games boxes in Rio de Janeiro
Despite the absence of the likes of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, the sport’s comeback to the Olympic fold has been hailed as a huge success
It’s hard to imagine a better ambassador for golf’s merit as an Olympic sport than gold medal winner Justin Rose.
The reigning Hong Kong Open champion – and sources say it’s all but confirmed fans in the city will get to see the Olympic victor defend his title in the city in December – is an eloquent speaker and generous and affable towards reporters and fans.
WATCH: golden moments on Day 10 at the Rio Olympics
As he spoke passionately about what his Rio de Janeiro success meant and how those top male golfers who pulled out had missed a glorious opportunity Peter Dawson, the president of the International Golf Federation sitting alongside him, could have been forgiven for allowing himself a smug grin – not that he did of course.
The world’s top four – Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson – were the highest-profile of about 20 leading players who gave the Olympic tournament a miss.
Fear over the Zika virus was a common excuse, though the perception persists that they simply couldn’t be bothered adding another tournament to a packed schedule, especially one without any prize money. The fact that the odds of catching Zika now seem higher in Florida, where many top professionals live, than Rio, merely added an ironic sheen to those suspicions.