Tommy Fleetwood is all for golf playing a bigger part on the Olympic schedule, as he gears up to make his second appearance in Team GB colours this week. Fleetwood is joined by Matt Fitzpatrick in Paris, with the pair gunning to win gold for Team GB at Le Golf National.
Golf returned to the Olympics after over 100 years away in 2016, and since then Fleetwood has featured in two of the three last editions, including this week’s trip across the Channel. Whilst Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick will both represent their nation, they will compete against each other.
The men’s golf event follows the traditional 72-hole strokeplay format, and has done since its return to the Games eight years on. Since then, there have been calls to add a team golf event to the schedule, with the idea of a mixed men’s and women’s tournament flirted ahead of the 2028 event in Los Angeles.
These changes are something Fleetwood appears keen on. “More opportunities for a medal the better, really, more opportunities for chances than one,” he said of potentially expanding to a team event in the future.
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“First impressions are I would love the chance. If I was here, I would love more than one chance to win a medal just selfishly, if the opportunity is there. You don't know until you've tried it. It could be a great idea.
“I guess I would love to try it. I would love to make the next one and see if we do anything different there.” A similar point had been raised by former Masters champion Jon Rahm, who is also in Paris this week representing Spain alongside David Puig at Le Golf National.
Previewing the 72-hole event, Rahm pledged his backing behind a team format on the Olympic stage. He said: “I would love to actually, as a partner or somehow, whether as a combined sport or us playing together, to be able to represent Spain. That would be extremely nice to share the stage with another player, to do something different, to maybe what we do every other day, right.
Rahm too believes each nation should be able to select their Olympic players how they please, rather than follow the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). This has seen a number of Rahm’s fellow LIV Golf stars miss out on a trip to Paris, including Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith.
