Rio de Janeiro – Olympic Golf competition took place for the first time in 112 years this weekend, medals were handed out Sunday, with Britain’s Justin Rose laying claim to the gold.
Former Lobo great Gavin Green finished in 47th position at 3-over 287 after posting a 3-under 68 on Sunday. Green, a three-time All-American selection for the Lobos, was one of only two players elected to represented Malaysia in the games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio.
Green – a native of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – was one of six Lobos sent to compete on on the biggest international stage. During his time as a Lobo, Green was also selected as a member of the prestigious All-Nicklaus team in 2015 for the Lobos during his senior campaign.
For those with a chance to medal in these games it came down to the 72nd hole in a duel between Britain’s Justin Rose – the champion of the 2013 U.S. Open – and this year’s Open Champion Henrik Stenson, a Swede.
Today’s final round acted as a rematch to an earlier showdown between the two contested at Royal Troon for the Claret Jug, a match which Stenson eventually emerged victorious.
Stenson’s victory at Royal Troon marked the first time that a Swedish-born player won a major championship.
Today’s battle ended differently, but history was written nonetheless. Rose is now the only player in history to win both an Olympic Medal and a major championship.
Rose, rang in the games with something never-before-seen in Olympic golfing competition, an ace, during Thursday’s round. He continued the momentum throughout the weekend, culminating in Sunday’s 4-under 67.
After Rose knocked his third shot on the par-5 18th inside the leather, the pressure was squarely on Stenson, who went on to three putt for bogey.
The American’s were lead by the performance of Matt Kuchar, who fired his way to an 8-under 63, eventually finishing at 13-under overall and laid claim to the Bronze medal. Kuchar’s Sunday round tied the Olympic scoring record set by Australian Marcus Fraser on Thursday.
Fellow American Bubba Watson finished T8 at 7-under and San Antonio native Patrick Reed followed close behind at 6-under and T11. Farther down the leaderboard sits Ricky Fowler who posted a 3-over 74 in today’s final round to eventually finish 37th at even-par 284.
Golf was last contested as an Olympic sport in the 1904 St. Louis Games. The field included 80 players, 77 of which were American, including Toronto native George Lyon who won gold.
This is only the third time in Olympic history that Golf has been included in the Olympics. The first Olympic golfing competition came during the Paris Games in 1900, followed by the aforementioned St. Louis games, and now in Rio.
The games of 2020 have golf included on the official event roster as well.