The Olympics will be taking place in Paris this year, and I’ll definitely be going.
Touch wood, as long as I’m not injured, I think it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that I’ll be playing, because the top-two ranked players in the world from each country go. At the moment, in early January, it will be myself and Paula Reto.
I’m fortunate to be a tier-one athlete on the Sascoc Opex programme. GolfRSA is involved and is doing all the admin on our behalf. Thank goodness, because it’s a lot. It’s been great to have them on board. GolfRSA put my name forward because if you were in the top 15 in the world in your field you could apply for it. So they applied on my behalf and that’s how I got it.
Not going to Tokyo in 2020 was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. I was so torn up about it, but it was during Covid and the anxiety levels I had over travelling were too high.
Everyone was affected during Covid in some way. I would have had to go from Japan to play at the Scottish and British Opens and my biggest fear was not being able to play at those two events, because that’s ultimately how I make my living. Those two tournaments are my favourite ones of the year and two of the biggest for me. So that is how I ended up making my decision.
I had the full experience in Rio and I knew it was never going to be the same in Japan. We were going to have to be tested every day, would be living in a bubble and driving an hour to the golf course. I just knew it wasn’t going to be enjoyable and I would most likely be around for the next Olympics, so I just decided to take myself out of it. It was hard, I only decided about six weeks before the Olympics that I wouldn’t be going. It really wasn’t a great time for anybody.
One of the things I loved from my experience in Rio was rubbing shoulders with and being around all these other extraordinary athletes who we never get to see. Most of them work their butts off for four years to get to this one race, and in a few seconds their dreams can be cut short. That’s something I really do admire so much. Whereas I competed, didn’t play great, got on a plane the next week and went and played in Canada for $2.5-million… my life just carried on. They had to wait another four years. And that’s how you put it in perspective.
The Olympics were never anything that drove us because we didn’t ever have the option. But now that we have the option it’s an experience I cherish, and I’m hoping that at the next one – I obviously feel my game is at a different level now – I will be able to compete.
It’s also really different because every week when you’re at a tournament you’re playing for something, whether it’s to make the cut or to play for a position. It’s a bit weird when you’re at the Olympics and if you’re out of the top three it’s like, what am I playing for now? So I think it’s also a very different mindset.
– This column first appeared in the February 2024 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
