Bubba Watson will defends Travelers title, play Olympics the next week
For the last several weeks, we’ve heard from a handful of players who have decided not to compete in the 60-player men’s Olympic golf tournament in Brazil in August.
On Wednesday, we got affirmation of a player who does intend to make the trip to Rio to represent his country.
Bubba Watson committed to defend the Travelers Championship title Aug. 4-7, one he won last year in a playoff with Paul Casey. Normally played the week after the U.S. Open, the Hartford, Conn., area event was moved in this Olympic year to precede the men’s tournament by a week. So, not only did Watson announce he’ll defend a championship he’s won twice but also his commitment to represent the United States in the men’s Olympic golf contingent.
“I want to make the Olympic team,” Watson said at the Tour Championship in September. “I want to represent my country, and this is probably my only year to have that shot because I’m getting older. Four years is a long time for me to prepare later, so this is a good shot for me to make it. It would be an honor and a thrill just to put the USA flag around me and represent my country.”
Ranked fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking, Watson is the second-highest ranked American in the world behind second-ranked Jordan Spieth. Spieth, Watson, fifth-ranked Rickie Fowler and No. 8 Dustin Johnson would currently constitute the four American players who would make the Olympic tournament. A country can have no more than four players in the 72-hole event, and, to do that, all four of them have to be ranked inside the top 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Watson’s announcement comes on the heels of opposite decisions shared by former world No. 1 players Adam Scott and Vijay Singh, Miguel Angel Jimenez and South African major winners Louis Oothuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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