The likes of Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen may have withdrawn from the Rio Olympics, but new South African sensation Brandon Stone says “their loss is my gain”.
He may have got through via the back door, but Stone says that going to Rio in South Africa’s first ever golf team at the Olympics is a “massive honour”.
The 23-year-old Stone – son of veteran South African professional Kevin, who turns 50 next month – will form part of the two-man team alongside Jaco van Zyl in Brazil after Grace, Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel pulled out due to fears around the Zika virus.
Stone moved up to 89 on the world rankings after an excellent joint-fourth finish at the French Open recently, which also won him a place in this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, but he dropped down to 92 this week. Van Zyl is 67th on the list and chose to withdraw from the Open to get ready for Rio.
The top four golfers on the world – Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy – have all chosen to skip the Olympics due to the Zika virus, along with eighth-ranked Australian Adam Scott.
But Stone is excited about being part of golf’s return to the Games after a 112-year absence, having last featured at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States.
“Playing in the Olympics is quite an occasion and a special week. So I’m looking forward to heading over to Rio in a few weeks’ time and representing that green-and-gold,” Stone told SuperSport TV on Tuesday at Troon, where he was preparing for Thursday’s opening round at the Open.
“At the start of the year, if you had told me that I would qualify for the Olympics, I would’ve taken it dearly! Obviously with the virus, there are certain people who are in jeopardy – Charl, Louis and Gracie are looking to start families, and I understand completely.
“And their loss is my gain. They’ve obviously given me a hell of an opportunity to witness and enjoy the showcase that is the Olympic Games, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Stone and Van Zyl are among the top 60-ranked golfers who have not withdrawn from Rio in a list released by the International Golf Federation on Monday. Van Zyl was 24th and Stone 29th.
The two SA female players will be Paulo Reto and Ashleigh Simon, who were 36th and 41st on the Olympic women’s list, and the overall SA golf team will be captained by Gary Player.
Stone has moved quickly into the top 100 after winning his first European Tour-sanctioned title at the SA Open in January, while he also had four other top-10 finishes to be 30th on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai moneylist with 625 755 euros.
He will tee off at 4.10pm in Thursday’s first round at Troon with American JB Holmes and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
And despite some of the big names not travelling to Rio, Stone believes that the tournament can still capture the imagination of the public and secure the sport’s inclusion beyond the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“Look at the guys who haven’t played it – Seve Ballesteros, Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus… all those guys, they never played there. So, to be part of the first golf team in the Olympics for South Africa is a massive honour,” he said.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know what’s the response going to be. I’m hoping that we put on a good show, that we grab the viewers’ attention and that it remains part of the Olympics for the foreseeable future.”
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Independent Media