Sometimes they come back, will it be true glory? The answer for golf and rugby 7, new Olympic disciplines chosen by the IOC in a roster that included softball, baseball, karate, squash and roller skating, he will only arrive at the end of the game. The two sports have been missing from the Olympics for 112 and 92 years respectively (in the formula at 15), but their appeal to the general public remains to be demonstrated. Let's just say that in golf Italy presents itself with 4 athletes, Matteo Manassero, Nino Bertasio, Giulia Sergas and Giulia Montanaro and that can even aspire to a medal, while rugby lacks an Azzurri team. We also say that the sport to take greater risks is golf, while the Seven (this is how rugby 7 is called) arrives with very good premises and hopes for when the Olympic torch will be extinguished.
GOLF SPOTLIGHT
Golf is already a much loved game in some areas of the world, the richest ones, it boasts sumptuous prizes, pharaonic sponsors and TV rights. Today it is looking for a popular affirmation, outside the Anglo-Saxon world (where it is already practiced by almost everyone) but its presence at the Olympics does not convince the champions in the first place, so much so that the top four players in the world answered “no, thank you” at Rio's invitation. There's Zika, there's little safety, there's no money, there's a busy golf season, including the Ryder Cup (biennial Europe-US challenge) and, at the end of August, there is the FedexCup (final of the American championship) which is worth 60 million dollars. Moral: "golf is not a game suitable for the Olympics, I won't watch it on TV, I will choose important Olympic sports, such as athletics and swimming", the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, world number four, cuts short.
Heavy words, one freezing shower for those who hoped to expand the game in Latin America, after the investment in Barra da Tijuca, where the competition course designed by the American Hanse Golf Course Design is located.
Maybe it will happen like in tennis: at the beginning the number ones don't work and only when things work do they feel the Decoubertian spirit arrive. Or maybe not, it will depend on the public response. Unfortunately, a formula has been chosen that newbies will struggle to follow on TV. There are two races scheduled: one for men (11-14 August) and one for women (17-21 August). They are stroke competitions, i.e. a challenge between the players against the field, in which whoever completes 4 rounds of 18 holes (for a total of 72 holes), with the lowest score, prevails. Competitions lasting 4 days each, with 60 participants, without cut, matches that look more like a soap opera than an action film, times are long, perhaps endless for an untrained audience. Probably the match play formula, the one that pits one player against another, would have captured the attention more easily.
For Italy, in any case, golf at the Olympics is an opportunity not to be missed and a medal would be very important, given the great adventure of the Ryder Cup in Rome in 2022 in which the Federation threw itself.
In the men's field, the Italian hopes are entrusted to Matteo Manassero, from Negrar (Verona), 23 years old, 4 tournaments won on the European professional tour, including the very important Pga Championship. His best finish this year is a third place in Scotland. In the last 24 months Matteo has known dark moments, but he has overcome the crisis and now has a bright career ahead of him again. "Meditate, wait, fast" Siddhartha would say and Matteo did it, because these golf practices are indispensable.
Nino Bertasio He is 28 years old, his career so far has been less explosive than that of his partner, but he has great qualities and a winning character as he demonstrated in February, by conquering the Open Cimar Samanah in Marrakech, Morocco.
The field, even with defections, remains very competitive. In the men's field we find, among others, the number 5 in the world, the Swede Henrik Stenson, winner of the Open Championship; Masters champion, England's Danny Willett; and again Bubba Watson (USA), Rickie Fowler (USA), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Martin Kaymer (Germany).
The women's race it is even more difficult: the first women of the world, unlike their male colleagues, are all there. Among them the New Zealander Lydia Ko (number 1); the Canadian Brooke M. Henderson (number two), the American Lexi Thompson, the Korean Inbee Park. Italy lines up Giulia Sergas, 36 years old, a golf dame with the most majors, made cuts and top 10 finishes; and Giulia Molinaro, 26, who holds a 2013 pro rookie award.
RUGBY AT 7
Also the Rugby at 7 debuts with two tournaments, one for men and one for women, with 12 teams each from various continents. The matches will be played in the Deodoro Stadium, in the Deodoro Olympic complex. Each tournament includes a preliminary phase with 3 groups made up of 4 teams. 3 points are awarded for each win, 2 points for each draw and 1 point for a loss. The ranking allows access to the quarter-finals of the top two in each group, plus the two best third-placed teams.
The women's tournament will take place from 6 to 8 August, That male from 9 to 11 August. The holding of semi-finals and finals is scheduled for the last few days (respectively on 8 and 11) with relative assignment of medals.
The oval ball will probably draw greater benefits from the Olympics than golf, so much so that in the qualifications there was talk of a real rugby fever given the record attendance recorded in some stadiums.
The Seven follows the rules of rugby 15. The field has the same dimensions; however, there are 7 players in action, while 5 are ready to replace them; 3 players participate in scrums and throw-ins.
