Rio Olympic golf test event needs players

Very few of the world's top golfers have committed to the mandatory Rio Olympics test event given the big dollars on offer in a packed US PGA Tour.

Two men walk at the Olympic Golf Course at Rio de Janeiro

Very few of the world's top golfers have committed to the mandatory Rio Olympics test event. (AAP)

With golf joining the Olympics for the first time since 1904, the US PGA Tour is trying to put together a test event for the new course in Rio de Janeiro.

The tour is having a tough time finding anyone to go because of the crowded schedule.

"We've got a good list of players who are, quote, interested in coming," tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.

"But we don't have a long list of players who are committed to coming. That's the case with the guys who are currently playing on the PGA Tour, just because of the schedule, looking ahead to the summer, seeing the compaction. So I don't know."

The test event is planned for March 8, and the tour has lined up a charter flight for its members.

Every sport must have an event at the Olympic venue ahead of the Rio Games. Finchem said if golf can pull together this outing, it will count as the test event.

"We can do that with any combination of players that are being talked to," he said.

"Also, it's probably most important to get international players. We don't know how it's going to wind up. We've got transportation issues and a sponsor the next week that's watching and saying, 'Am I going to lose anybody?"'

The World Golf Championship at Doral ends on March 6 and is followed by the Valspar Championship, where Jordan Spieth is the defending champion. His agent, Jay Danzi, said the tour approached Spieth about a trip to Rio, but he didn't want it to interfere with his title defence at Innisbrook.

The European Tour and Asian Tour have a co-sanctioned event in Thailand that week. The US LPGA Tour is off, though its best players will be in Singapore on March 6 for the HSBC Women's Champions.

British Open champion Zach Johnson said he was asked. His foundation has a retreat that week. Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler also were approached and decided against a flight to Brazil. It's a month before the Masters, with tournaments like the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Dell Match Play and Shell Houston Open leading up to Augusta.

Meanwhile, Adam Scott has made it clear over the last several months that the Olympics aren't a priority. What he hasn't said is whether he will represent Australia if eligible, which is likely.

"I said it's not my priority at all, and that means I'll make a decision at the very last moment whether it fits or not," Scott said. "It's not the main focus of the year. It's not what I built my schedule around. If it fits in good at the time, I'll play. And if it doesn't, then I won't."

The first decision he has to make is on May 6.

Players have been getting emails from the US PGA Tour over the last few weeks about the "Registered Testing Pool" regarding the anti-doping program for the Olympics, which is far more stringent that the tour's program. All players who would qualify for the Olympics on May 6 must be entered in the pool.

If players become eligible after May 6, then they are added to the pool and stay there until the final Olympic ranking on July 11. But if players choose not to compete in the Olympics, they will be removed from the pool and not be allowed to be added at a later date.


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Source: AAP



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