You can add Zach Johnson to the list of golfers who have no intention of ever representing their country at the Olympics.
After a practice round at the Barclays Championship on Monday, Johnson was asked if he watched any of the Rio Olympics. He said he watched “a lot,” but he most certainly didn’t follow along with the sport he plays.
“Oh, I didn’t watch golf,” Johnson told Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post. “I’d rather watch the sports that should be in the Olympics. I’d rather watch the athletes who train for four years for that one week. I’d rather watch swimming and diving, track and field — the athletes that are relevant for one week. All of our [golf] athletes are relevant 24-7, 365. I just don’t see the need for golf to be in the Olympics. Same thing with basketball. It’s relevant all the time. LeBron James, Kevin Durant? They’re relevant all the time.”
Tell us how you really feel, Zach. The 2015 Open Championship winner took it a step further, saying he has a “strong disdain” for Olympic golf and the way it affected the PGA schedule.
“Make it a team format and give amateurs and college players, who don’t have the relevancy [pros do] a chance,” he said. “That would have been more interesting. For those guys who played, any time you can represent your country, it’s a pretty awesome endeavor. But we have so much international golf as it is. And the fact that it put a kink in our schedule this year irritates me. To mess with the four tournaments that matter most [the majors] because you’re at the Olympics, I’ve got a strong, strong disdain for that.”
Matt Kuchar, who ended up taking home the bronze medal in Rio, said golfing in the Olympics was up there with the best experiences in his life. On the other side, you have people like Johnson and this PGA superstar who are completely against Olympic golf.
I guess you can’t please everyone.
