Hello, friends, and welcome to this edition of the Rogers Report, where I’ll share all of the things I’ve seen Olympic golfers doing in Paris (via social media) over the last few days before the men’s competition starts. I recently learned that because the women don’t have access to the course quite yet (their event is next week!), many of them are not yet in Paris. Here’s to hoping we get lots of Olympic village content from our favorite LPGA players once they arrive on site. Luckily for us, the men have been busy since the Opening Ceremony and luckily for you all, I saved, screenshotted and made note of everything they’ve posted.
In honor of the Olympics, here’s swimming legend Michael Phelps discussing golf and what I believe to be one of the best uses of an Olympic gold medal.
Okay, on to Paris…
Australia
We’ll start with Australia. Min Woo Lee seems to be taking full advantage of his time at the Olympics.
Lee seems to be a big tennis guy — he attended a few matches with his girlfriend in Paris when he wasn’t prepping at Le Golf National.
I’m absolutely loving the Australian Olympic gear. Paired with the sunglasses, MWL may give his own teammate, Jason Day, a run for his money when it comes to style this week.
And the best part? Min Woo’s sister, Minjee, is also representing Australia at the Olympics.
I hope both siblings take home a medal so neither gets bragging rights for the rest of time.
France
On to France’s very own Matthieu Pavon, who had an interesting take about the gold medal earlier this week. He said a gold medal would mean more to him than a major victory, which is not something I’m used to hearing as golf has only been back in the Games since 2016.
Once I learned what Pavon has been up to since arriving in Paris, his take began to make more sense. From Team France’s dance party on their boat during the Opening Ceremony to catching a fencing match on Tuesday, Pavon’s calendar has been booked and busy.
I keep thinking of the Olympics as a really cool field trip for the best athletes in the world, and Pavon is taking full advantage of it. So are his teammates, who are intrigued by equestrian.
United States
Next up we have Team USA. Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark represented the U.S. golf team at the Opening Ceremony, and I believe this may have been the first time I’ve seen either of them in jeans. It wasn’t as jarring as seeing the pros wear shorts in a practice round for the first time, but it’s not often we see the pros in denim, never mind while wearing a tie. Morikawa and Clark met up with Steph Curry, who would probably post a respectable score if he were at the Olympics to tee it up at Le Golf National.
My favorite thing about the Olympics is watching great athletes from one sport meet up with and support great athletes from another sport. The American golfers spent a fair amount of time cheering on other athletes over the last few days, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
Oregon alums Sabrina Ionescu and Wyndham Clark met up for a photo during the Opening Ceremony, which made me think that we need some sort of field day for golfers like the rest of us had in middle school. Which tour pro would win a free-throw competition? Who would have the best floor routine when trying out gymnastics? It is now my goal to make this sort of thing happen in the near future.
Scottie Scheffler may not be staying in the Olympic Village this week (Le Golf National isn’t close, so some players opted for hotels closer to the course), but he is still having the time of his life in Paris. And so are Meredith and baby Bennett.
Bennett isn’t yet three months old and he’s already seen his dad win twice on the PGA Tour, been to the Louvre and watched Simone Biles and the rest of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team win the gold medal. What a life!
It’s also interesting to see the Schefflers among the crowd and being left alone at the Olympics. Most golf fans would love to meet the World No. 1, but he’s just another guy at the Olympics this week where everyone is one of the best in the world.
When Collin Morikawa joined me on the Scoop, he mentioned that he really wanted to watch Simone Biles as well, and that’s exactly what he got to do this week.
I’m hoping Morikawa also got to check out the “random” sports he mentioned: archery and indoor cycling.
Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner is having an incredible time in Paris as well. He’s a golf guy covering gymnastics, which is truly the best of both worlds.
Ireland
BFFs Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are representing Ireland on the course this week, and Lowry was chosen to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony.
And folks, Lowry looked ecstatic while serving as a flag bearer. I’ve never gotten to carry a flag to represent my country, but I was chosen to swim the length of the pool carrying the American flag in my swim league’s All-Pool meet when I was, like, 12. So I can empathize with the pressure and general sense of anxiety Lowry may have (or may not have) felt leading up to this moment. Luckily for him, that didn’t get the best of him and he was able to shine during this moment. I cannot say I did the same during my flag-bearing duties in 2007.
Shane and his wife, Wendy, watched Ireland’s very own Daniel Wiffen win gold in the 800m freestyle. I hope some of these athletes come out to support the golfers this week! Simone Biles: You’d love AimPoint, I just know it.
Back to swimming. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry discussed how they’d perform in a 100-meter swim, and McIlroy is confident he could complete it in two and a half minutes.
This kind of feels like when your friend who never plays golf is positive he could break 80 if he tried, but who am I to judge? Again, we need a field day for professional golfers. The results will speak for themselves.
And finally, as I write this very post, the McIlroys are out watching tennis.
Norway
Okay, so I don’t have much Viktor Hovland content for you all. But I have been made aware that he is staying in the Olympic Village this week, and I think Hovland could really be thriving in there.
Hovland, this is my plea to you: meet up with big TikTokers in there. Get involved in some funny content. Ilona Maher would adore you. Golf fans (particularly me) would be forever grateful.
Picture day
The pros had a photo shoot with the Olympic rings at Le Golf National on Wednesday, and the photos are amazing. They sort of feel like when your mom makes you take a million photos on family vacation, or when you’re trying to get a cool Instagram but can’t help but look extremely touristy at a historical landmark.
This video of Lowry and McIlroy reminds me of those “Influencers in the Wild” posts, even though they’re professional athletes and this is part of the gig.
McIlroy quite literally runs off at the end of the video, which brings me back to the forced family vacation photo vibes.
Then we have Ludvig Aberg, who looks happy just to be included.
Maybe it’s because we’re not used to seeing the pros on a team (especially a team of four), but something about Team USA’s photos remind me of my time playing high school golf.
Of course, my high school golf team photos were usually us posing by some McDonald’s arches after a match, not the Olympic rings. And as a final note on Team USA’s photo-shoot day, I couldn’t help but laugh that Scottie Scheffler’s goal this week is to “have fun.” Every other player they had do this exercise had the goal of winning gold.
Perhaps the World No. 1 will have fun while winning the gold medal.
Brooks Koepka’s Olympics
Brooks Koepka may not be competing in the Olympic games, but he is taking part in an unofficial rendition of the event while on vacation in Croatia.
Honestly, this seems like a pretty fun alternative to the Olympic games in Paris.
Parting thoughts
And finally, I present to you all the Tweet that I’ve been thinking about ever since I saw it this morning.