Just before the first competitive golf shots were struck at Kasumigaseki Country Club in this year’s Olympic Games, I sketched out a modest proposal for a reimagined golf competition that would maintain the current individual stroke-play format while introducing a team component and jacking up the drama of the final rounds in the process.
Boiled down, here was my idea:
-Men and women play at the same time (small fields make this easy)
-Teams are two men and two women from each country
-Each round, a team would take the low three scores out of four
-Individual medals are awarded in the same way but now you’ve added a team competition without hitting an extra shot
Good news: With the Olympics in the books, we can break down how said team competition would have played out. Without giving anything away…it would have been awesome. Nineteen teams fielded four competitive Olympians, while another few competed shorthanded with just three. Let’s run through the results.
Day 1: BALLS IN THE AIR
On the back of a 66 from Madeline Sagström — the low first round of the women’s event — Team Sweden jumps out to an early lead! Alex Noren and Henrik Norlander jumped in with 67 and 68, respectively, to post 12-under 201. Austria, competing with just three golfers, sits second thanks to a Sepp Straka 63. And Denmark, led by J.B. Hansen, sits third.
Team USA’s No. 1 squad — Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Nelly Korda and Danielle Kang — is in solid position at 205, while USA 2 — Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda — are a bit off the pace at 209.
Other dark-horse nations are right in the mix. Can Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im get a medal through the team competition, if not as individuals? Can Mexico hang around? How about Thailand?
18-hole leaders:
201 — Sweden
203 — Austria
205 — Denmark
205 — USA 1
205 — South Korea
205 — Mexico
206 — Thailand
206 — Belgium
206 — Spain
207 — France
Day 2: THE SCANDINAVIAN SURGE
Denmark throws down a glistening second round thanks to a 63 from Emily Pedersen and a 64 from Nanna Koerstz Madsen to surge into the lead after an 18-under 195. Sweden slips from the lead but hangs onto silver medal position thanks to three rounds in the 60s.
Nelly Korda singlehandedly keeps USA 1 in contention with a 62 (even with double bogey at the last) while Schauffele’s 63 keeps USA 2 within striking distance.
Further down the board, Japan and Ireland post 197 each to climb into the mix. And China, hardly an established golf power, posted 198 to move into sixth.
36-hole leaders:
400 — Denmark
405 — Sweden
406 — Japan
406 — USA 1
407 — Ireland
410 — China
410 — USA 2
411 — Mexico
412 — Australia
413 — South Korea
Day 3: CONTENDERS EMERGE
After the third round it becomes more evident which teams will be in medal contention.
The contenders: After the Danish women threw down a combined score of 127 on Friday, the men answer with rounds of 66 (Rasmus Hojgaard) and 67 (J.B. Hansen) to help post 203, one of the low team rounds of the day. They’ll enter the final round with a five-shot lead over Japan, which scores three more rounds in the 60s to shoot 202. Japan with a solid chance at a gold medal in its’ home Olympics?! What a story!
USA’s top team is lurking in third but feeling the pressure having entered as heavy favorites. And now they’ve been caught by Ireland, which has Rory McIlroy and Stephanie Meadow lurking for individual medal contention.
Three more teams lurk within five shots of bronze: China, which posted 204 to hang steady, Mexico, led by Abraham Ancer’s 66, and Great Britain, which was forced to take a 73 on Day 1 but surges back with the low round of the day thanks to a Tommy Fleetwood 64 and Paul Casey 66.
Others slip from contention, showing the precariousness of the competition: Sweden, forced to take two scores in the 70s, posts 211 to fall from second to eighth. South Korea, facing high expectations, now sits seven shots back of third, where they’re tied with USA 2, which is stuck in neutral with just two scores better than 68 through three rounds.
Still, plenty can happen in the final round.
54-hole leaders:
603 — Denmark
608 — Japan
610 — USA 1
610 — Ireland
614 — China
614 — Mexico
615 — Great Britain
616 — Sweden
617 — USA 2
617 — South Korea
617 — Australia
Day 4: THE AMERICAN CHARGE
Conditions are ripe for scoring in the final round of both the men’s and women’s events, particularly for the teams in the red, white and blue. USA 1 scores the low round of the week thanks to a 63 from Morikawa and 65s from Thomas and Kang to make up a seven-shot deficit on Denmark and two-shot deficit to Japan. Their final-round 193 puts USA 1 at 803 for the week and a five-shot victory.
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Japan, meanwhile, clings to silver thanks to some gritty play down the stretch. Rikuya Hoshino, lurking near the bottom of the men’s leaderboard, rallies for three birdies in his final five holes to shoot 66. Mone Inami shoots 65 to earn a silver medal individually. And Hideki Matsuyama and Nasa Hataoka post 69s to edge out third-place Denmark with a four-day total of 808.
The Danes hardly choke away their 54-hole lead but are unable to match the final-round firepower of the American side. Pedersen shoots 68, Madsen and Hansen shoot 69 and while they rue letting gold and silver slip, they’re delighted with bronze.
That’s because, despite a final-round 64 from Jessica Korda, a 65 from Reed and a gold-medal showing from Schauffele, USA 2 finishes in the Olympics’ most heartbreaking position: fourth.
Final results:
Gold medal:
803 — USA 1
Silver medal:
808 — Japan
Bronze medal:
809 — Denmark
813 — USA 2
814 — Ireland
815 — China
819 — Great Britain
819 — Australia
820 — Sweden
820 — South Korea
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Five quick takeaways:
1. It was competitive.
One worry about a team golf format was that not enough countries could field “relevant” foursomes. But the final leaderboard is evidence that over 72 holes, plenty of teams could contend for a medal while the best teams also had a good chance to separate themselves. There’s far more certainty in, say, a 4×100 swim relay. We certainly didn’t know Denmark would lead the golf competition through three rounds.
2. The course setup was crucial (and successful).
One key to this competition “working” was ensuring the men’s and women’s setups led to relatively equivalent scores. Kerry Haigh basically nailed it; Schauffele’s winning total of 18 under was just one shot lower than Korda’s 17 under. And while the women’s field was slightly more spread out (nine under was T15 in the women’s field, T27 for the men) the format demands that at least one men’s and women’s score be counted from each team each round. It works.
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3. The format made more golf shots meaningful.
Patrick Reed and Justin Thomas weren’t in individual medal contention but felt every bit of pressure to get their teams there. Hoshino’s late charge was irrelevant for the individual competition but meaningful for his team and country. Jessica Korda’s third-round 63 doomed her individual chances at a medal but her final-round 64 gave USA 2 a shot. You get the idea.
4. We got some fantastic storylines.
Can you imagine? Shane Lowry heading back out to cheer on McIlroy and Meadow down the stretch. Tommy Fleetwood rooting for Mel Reid to make a charge. Matsuyama celebrating Inami’s 65. American flags on the 18th green.
5. We could still use some match play.
There would admittedly be some awkwardness if, say, Hideki Matsuyama needed to birdie No. 18 to secure individual bronze but just needed to two-putt to maintain team silver (this almost happened). You could eliminate some of that pressure (and add further intrigue) if the final four teams went to match play.
Suddenly USA 1 and USA 2 are squaring off for the right to play for gold against the winner of Japan vs. Denmark. That gold-medal match would be electric — as would be the subsequent showdown for bronze.
You could point out that four vs. four is a very awkward number for match play, but we’re already plenty deep into dreamland. If the IOC is reading this, send me a note! We’ll hammer out the rest of the logistics and take Olympic golf to the next level.