Olympic golf field still world class, despite high-profile dropouts

By Nick Murray, CBC Sports

Make no mistake, the men's Olympic golf field in Rio, no matter how small or how depleted, is still world class.

"It's unfortunate there's a little bit of a cloud that hangs over with some of the names that aren't here," said Canada's top contender David Hearn.

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"If you look at field that is here, you forget about who isn't [here]. It's still an incredible field of golfers. There's major champions, there's FedEx Cup champions ... these are some of the best players in the world."

As Hearn mentioned, some notable absences include Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott; the list goes on. 

Still, there are plenty of top players to follow. Here are a few notables to watch this week:

David Hearn and Graham DeLaet

Canada's top golfers aren't necessarily favoured to defend the country's Olympic gold medal, won by George S. Lyon at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. But then again, anything can happen over four rounds.

"We're going to do everything we can to defend that gold medal," said Hearn, who comes into Rio ranked No. 139 in the world.

"It's a great piece of history for Canadians to have that we won a gold medal the last time it was in the Olympics. I feel really positive. I had a bit of an off week at the RBC Canadian Open, but leading into that I've had a lot of top-25 finishes. I'm just waiting for those really good rounds and hopefully that will come out in Rio."

DeLaet meanwhile won't have his usual caddy in Rio, but he'll have a good friend in former NHLer Ray Whitney.

• Former NHLer Ray Whitney ready to caddie for Graham DeLaet

The world No. 145 comes into Rio having missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, though he tied for eighth at the Barbasol Championship a week before.

Nonetheless, the opportunity to represent Canada and be part of the Olympics has left an impression on DeLaet.

"The whole experience so far has been so special. We were able to go to the opening ceremonies and soak that in, and just see what this means to athletes who have worked so hard for the past four years," DeLaet said.

"It's a little different for us because we do this week-in and week-out and we kind of flew down here to play this tournament, then we're going to go back to work again next week. But for so many sports this is the pinnacle. So to see all those other athletes, it just puts things into perspective how special of an event this is." 

Rickie Fowler

If not on the golf course, you have to follow Rickie Fowler's Olympic experience.

The social media-savvy and world No.8 golfer has embraced his experience as an Olympian, even walking in the opening ceremony — he was the only one among his U.S. teammates of Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar.

Fowler has enjoyed a modest season on the PGA tour this year, making only half of the cuts at majors this year and earning seven top-10 finishes among his 19 events played.

But Fowler predicts windy conditions at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio could shake up the field.

"I was playing on Sunday and had to basically stop playing because the wind was blowing so hard from the wrong direction," Fowler said. "If winds pick up, shooting even par on the course will be nice."

Henrik Stenson

This year's British Open champion is the highest-ranked golfer in the men's field going into Rio.

The world No. 5 followed up his Claret Jug with a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship, tied for seventh and six strokes off the winner.

Perhaps the only thing that can stop Stenson from a gold medal is apparently a bear.

Sergio Garcia

While major championships keep eluding Sergio Garcia, an Olympic gold medal would certainly fill the void nicely.

The 36-year-old Spaniard is in a good spot to make a run, at least for a podium finish, as the world No. 11 has had a solid year despite missing the cut at the PGA Championship.

Before then, he went on a run with fifth-place ties at both the British and U.S. Opens, and the BMW International Open on the European Tour, plus a playoff win at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Notable absence: Phil Mickelson

Don't look for Phil Mickelson in Rio.

Mickelson actually really wanted to play, but he was edged out at the time of the Olympic qualification cutoff and couldn't crack the U.S. team ahead of Fowler, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar — Dustin Johnson and Jordan Speith, who both rank higher than their countrymen, each dropped out, citing the Zika virus.

Although Mickelson now ranks one spot higher than Reed in the world rankings following a thrilling second-place at the British Open, the deadline for Olympic qualification rankings was one week before The Open, where Reed ranked higher at the time.