Riveting play as golf leaves its mark in Tokyo 2020

A throwaway comment by Rory McIlroy after he missed out on a bronze medal was worth its weight in gold as golf’s much talked-about acceptance in the Olympic Games was reinforced following two glorious weeks at Tokyo 2020 which ended on Aug 8.

“I’ve been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” said the forlorn Irishman after he bowed out of a riveting seven-man play-off for third place in the men’s competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

As one of the world’s leading golf stars and more recently, the de facto voice of reason for matters surrounding the game, McIlroy’s revelation was just the endorsement needed by the International Golf Federation to show that golf was here to stay in the Olympic programme and it does matter to the game’s elite.

More importantly, Tokyo 2020 also underscored Olympic golf’s role in growing the sport…