Danny Willett says competing at the Olympics is 'amazing'
Wednesday 10 August 2016 19:30, UK
Masters champion Danny Willett is savouring the atmosphere in the Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro and says having the opportunity to represent Great Britain is "an amazing experience".
Many golf fans were left disappointed when the top four players in the world - Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy - all opted out of the Games due to health concerns.
McIlroy, who had previously declared his intention to represent Ireland ahead of Great Britain, said his decision not to compete was not a difficult one because golf at the Olympics wasn't one of the sports that "matters".
However Willett, who will represent Great Britain alongside Justin Rose, has an entirely different view and is delighted he made the decision to attend.
"It's cool, a very cool experience," said Willett. "I'm happy I kept the decision to come down and play and I'm very happy with my decision to stay in the Olympic Village, to get the full feeling of what goes into it, of how much the whole of Britain as a team comes together.
"It's just an amazing experience to sit across from Andy Murray at breakfast and his brother Jamie is in the apartments, too. You chat a bit to them about things. You have breakfast with Jess Ennis-Hill in the morning... things that you normally wouldn't be able to do.
"To be able to bring athletes from so many sports together, I think there is no down side to it."
World number nine Willett, Matt Kuchar of the USA and China's Li Haotong will tee off at 13:03 BST on Thursday, while Rose starts at 14:58 BST alongside Kuchar's team-mate Rickie Fowler and Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas.
Willett did concede that he would have preferred either a matchplay event or team format instead of the standard 72-hole strokeplay being used in Rio, but any collaboration with Ryder Cup team-mate Rose will be forgotten once play starts.
"Me and Rosey had a good nine holes (of practice), talking through different things and you're helping each other out still," the 28-year-old said.
"But come Thursday morning, it's like the gun goes off at a 100m final. You're trying for yourself, aren't you? I'd love for me and Rosey to get a gold and silver, but I'm not going to stand here and say I'd prefer Rosey to get a gold, it doesn't work that way."
Though the world's top four are absent, there is a strong cast of players in Rio with Open champion Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer among the 60-man field, which also includes a four-man United States team of Kuchar, Fowler, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed.
Stenson lifted his first major title with a record-breaking performance at Royal Troon and is favourite for gold, but said: "It's a new week. The ball doesn't know what we did at the Open, that's for sure. It needs to be told again.
"Of course I'm here to try and bring home a medal for sure, hopefully the best one. But I think when you leave the Olympic Games if you bring a medal home you're going to be fairly satisfied.
"Anyone around the world knows what a gold medal in the Olympics means, but not everyone knows what an Open Championship is."
