The Olympic Games were amazing. It was one of the best weeks of my golfing career, it was unreal!
My caddie Tanya and I stayed in the Village for the first two nights, to experience it. It was an hour from the course so it would have made for very long days if we’d stayed there the whole time.
I didn’t get my clubs until Tuesday afternoon. I flew from West Palm to Philly, where we were supposed to have a three-hour connection which turned into nine hours. We only got to Paris late on Sunday afternoon.
My clubs got left in Philly. I could see my AirTag going all over Paris – so I went to collect them from the airport at 6:30am on Tuesday. I finally got my clubs at 11am and got to the course just after midday.
I decided to play the front nine and then 16, 17 and 18 because I was exhausted. I wanted to make sure I saw those holes because from watching the men the week before, I knew I needed to play them.
After staying in the Village, we moved into an Airbnb. Dave came over and we stayed in Versailles which was great, and it was only 15-20 minutes to the course, which made the days easier for us.
The course was one of the top five I’ve played. It was tough but fair, and it makes for a big event with the crowds. I’ve never played in front of crowds that big before, not even at the Majors. I think the difference was they were sports fans, it was a case of, ‘I want to go to an Olympic event, what can I get a ticket for?’
Some people were probably watching golf for the first time and some were golf fans, but they were just sports fans and they would clap for anybody.
We’d walk on to any tee and get applause, it was amazing. I played near Celine Boutier for the first three days so I had people all around me, and obviously the support for her was unreal. I was on the putting green when she teed off on the first day and even I got goosebumps just hearing the people.
There were quite a few South Africans out there and they’d shout my name and wave their flag and yell a few things in Afrikaans. If there was a player from their country, they were supporting them.
I hadn’t walked 18 holes in six weeks but I didn’t struggle too much with my foot. It was swollen by the end of the day – I said my baby toe looked like a little sausage – but the hole in my shoe definitely helped. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been able to play properly and put the full weight I need to on that foot.
There was a different feeling for golf at this Olympics. It has gained traction every year and this was the biggest year for it; hopefully people will take notice of us more now.
Even though you aren’t playing for money, it’s amazing how hard you play. You’re still aiming to finish top 10, you’re still playing for something even though you’re out of the top three. You want to finish the highest you can for your country.
I think the course played tougher for the women. We had more wind on most days; the only day we didn’t have much wind was on Sunday. The men had some rain every night to soften it up, but we didn’t. And we’re hitting in longer clubs than they are most of the time because it bottlenecks a lot.
Unfortunately they can’t make courses long enough for these guys any more, but we play courses the way they were designed to play traditionally. We had to think our way around the course a lot more. Although we play the same game, it’s just so different, the way we have to manage our way around certain courses.
I was very happy with the way I played, especially after not playing competitively for six weeks. I played steady, consistent golf, and I was happy that I was able to be somewhat thereabouts and to hit the shots under pressure again, having had such a long break.
I’m hoping the second half of the year is going to take a better turn and it’s going to be good!
– This column first appeared in the September 2024 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
Photo: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images
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