Golf Four years later, Lyon sailed to London intent on defending his Olympic title at the 1908 Games, but the tournament was cancelled due to a lack of entries. Lyon was offered a symbolic gold medal, which he declined. Today, a replica of Lyon’s goldmedal is on display at Rosedale, where I hadmy wedding reception. Another personal connection is that Lambton, the club at which Lyon played during the year he won the golf gold, is the course I wrote about for my first published magazine article about this sport inGolf Canadaback in 2000. Unfortunately, golf ’s return to the Olympics is not without an unwanted shadow. The players are dropping like “mosquitoes.” A bad pun – yes – but the point is clear, as the main culprit scaring off some would-be competitors is the Zika virus, which is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. An article in the Harvard Public Health Review, co-published byTIME, recently urged: “Zika Virus Means Brazil’s 2016 Olympics Must Not Proceed.”The associated risks and fears are warranted but, like all stories, there are two sides. One-sided headlines like these have scared off the likes of World No.1 Jason Day, World No. 7 Adam Scott, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy and South African Louis Oosthuizen (2010 Open Championship winner). All of these players have decided to take a pass at the chance to win Olympic golf gold because of these concerns. Still, many of golf ’s greats were committed to participate at press time, including Jordan Spieth and 2016 U.S. Open Champion Dustin Johnson. Other top-ranked professionals who might compete include Americans Rickie Fowler and BubbaWatson, Englishman DannyWillett (2016Masters champ) and Justin Rose. Top women expected to compete include Kiwi Lydia Ko, South Korea’s Inbee Park and Canada’s Brooke Henderson. Teen sensation Henderson, who turned pro in 2015, qualified for full status on the LPGA Tour after winning the Cambia Portland Classic. She has since climbed to No. 2 in the Rolex World Rankings after winning theWomen’s PGAChampionship this past June and defending her Portland Classic title. The Smiths Falls native has a good chance to come home from Rio with golf gold. Alena Sharp of Hamilton joins the 18-year-old as the other female athlete to don the red and white on the course. As of July 4, the two men who will represent Canada were still undecided, since the selection is based on world rankings as of July 12. Currently vying to try to take the two spots from front-runners Graham DeLaet and David Hearn are Adam Hadwin (181) Brad Fritsch (257) and Nick Taylor (285). Team Canada was one of only three countries that had representatives at a golf test event in Brazil this past March. This is part of the extra edge which Jeff Thompson, chief sport officer of Golf Canada, hopes to give our Olympic golfers. “The coaches put together video footage of every hole,” he said. “We are going to provide a pre-event briefing for all the players, so they feel like they’ve been there.” Maybe this extra edge is what our athletes need to bring home golf gold this summer in Rio? Maybe the men will be inspired by Lyon’s story and want to defend his century-old title? Whatever happens in Brazil come August, golf ’s return to the Olympics belongs and is sure to bring excitement and an unexpected finish on the fairways. For more info: http://olympic.ca/sports/golf/ Canada’s teen sensation Brooke Henderson. CSANews | SUMMER 2016 | 39
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