Rio Olympics: Great-grandson remembers George Lyon, Canada's defending Olympic golf champion
'Before there was a Tiger in golf, there was a Lyon,' Ross Wigle says
Who is the defending champion in Olympic golf and what country does he come from?
To the vast majority of us it's little more than an obscure trivia question. But for Ross Wigle of Hamilton, the answer is a point of family pride.
His great-grandfather, Torontonian George Lyon, won the gold medal the last time golf was played in the Olympics in 1904. He's been the defending champion ever since.
Now that golf is back in the Olympic Games after a 112-year absence. Wigle says the prospect of Lyon losing that status has him and his family feeling "a little sad."
'He walked on his hands'
"Is he, after August, potentially an asterisk in the history of golf?" Wigle asks rhetorically. "Yes," he concedes. "But ... before there was Tiger in golf, there was a Lyon."
Lyon was an anomaly, Wigle told CBC News during an interview at the Lambton Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke.
"He's 46 years old, he's a diabetic insurance salesman with five children, up against a 20-year-old NCAA champion from Harvard. But the bottom line is, he smoked 'em. He smoked em' all."
The Olympic champion was also something of a golf legend in his time, racking up a long list of wins from the Canadian and U.S. Amateur and Senior Championships, as well as the Canadian Open, between 1898 and the 1930s.
Wigle has heard a story since childhood about his great-grandfather's crowning moment in St. Louis, Missouri: According to family lore, Lyon was called from the back of the dining room to the stage to receive the gold medal.
"But how did he get there? He walked on his hands the entire way, at the age of 46, after 36 holes that day, to collect that medal," he says. "He had a great sense of humour."
The gold-medal was somehow lost over the years, but the family still has Lyon's Olympic trophy, says Wigle. "It's an absolutely gorgeous trophy. And nothing against Canada — it's actually sexier than the Stanley Cup."
The family donated the trophy to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. A replica of Lyon's gold medal is also on display at the Rosedale Golf Club.
'A badge of honour'
The Rio Olympic golf tournament tees off on Tuesday. There will be 41 countries represented at both the men's and women's competitions. Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, Graham DeLaet and David Hearn are the four Canadians competing.
Wigle says despite the sadness that will come when his great-grandfather loses the title of defending champion, the family will never forget his accomplishment.
"We will continue to keep it as a badge of honour until the next Canadian wins the gold medal," said Wigle.
And as Olympic tee-off time approaches, Wigle says, "I will be ... watching it in on television, having a scotch, and thinking of my great-grandfather."