Would you rather win The Players or an Olympic gold?

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

1000% a Players Championship.

 

Hell I'd want to win Tour Championship event, the whole Fed Ex Cup, or maybe even a few of the long time famous Tour stops like L.A. Open, Colonial, or Hilton Head over the IOC's event.

[OldCuss]

Players.

 

Money conservatively invested to greater guarantee:

 

Wife taken care of for life,

Dogs taken care of for life, 

Ability to do the type of work I most enjoy, and

Two-week annual vacation.

 

Old Cuss

[Hawkeye77]

Players - heck, some folks that don't know better will think I've won a major!

[SkiSchoolPro]

I suspect Si Woo Kim might trade his Player's for an Olympic Gold given that it would get him out of 2 years of Military service. He and SJ Im skipped the Open to prepare for Tokyo. https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/2021/07/06/chance-win-medal-and-avoid-military-service-kim-focusing-olympics/7881079002/

[sailfishchris]

Average tour player? Top 75-100?...... Relatively comfortable money wise. Give me the Gold. At the end of the day it's a job and it's secure. Not many gold medals for golf floating around.

[golfortennis]

8 hours ago, capking said:

Non golf fans don’t know what a players championship is, every person on earth knows what a gold medal is

 

Every person on earth also knows what $3 million is.  And given how not very long after no one cares about the person who wins the gold medal, I'll take the money, etc.  

 

Only reason there is a gold medal on offer is become some suits wanted to try to get richer off the Woods gravy train.  

[Mcfly]

Gold medal by far. 

[capking]

11 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

Every person on earth also knows what $3 million is.  And given how not very long after no one cares about the person who wins the gold medal, I'll take the money, etc.  

 

Only reason there is a gold medal on offer is become some suits wanted to try to get richer off the Woods gravy train.  

Lol if you are a pro golfer that could win either you are not a one and done you probably Made 8 figures already.

[Mr. Grumpy]

One of you takes the Players and 3 mil, then wastes the money on exemptions chasing the next bump. Its a vicious cycle. 

 

Olympic Gold? Olympic Village, Wheaties, and talk shows....

[golfortennis]

2 minutes ago, capking said:

Lol if you are a pro golfer that could win either you are not a one and done you probably Made 8 figures already.

 

Go look at how many gold medal winners end up having to sell their medals because they have no money.  Sure it's a great thing to have, but nobody is going to pay your bills for you because you won it.  Based on the choices given, it's not even close.  

 

Especially this year with the athletes village not nearly as social as normal.

[tatertot]

3 hours ago, From_Parts_Unknown said:

It would be really cool if Tiger could qualify for 2024 and win gold.  Just think how many gold medals that guy might have if golf had returned to being an Olympic sport by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Double post

Edited August 4, 2021 by tatertot

[tatertot]

3 hours ago, From_Parts_Unknown said:

It would be really cool if Tiger could qualify for 2024 and win gold.  Just think how many gold medals that guy might have if golf had returned to being an Olympic sport by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

And triple post.

Edited August 4, 2021 by tatertot

[tatertot]

3 hours ago, From_Parts_Unknown said:

It would be really cool if Tiger could qualify for 2024 and win gold.  Just think how many gold medals that guy might have if golf had returned to being an Olympic sport by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Great question ...

 

1996 - He would have a shot at it, but no guarantee to even make team USA.

2000 - odds on favorite

2004 - odds on favorite

2008 - odds on favorite

2012 - this was a tough year, would he have made the team?

2016 - nope

2020 - nope

 

So, probably 3 medals, outside shot at 4. His "career" would have looked a lot like Phelps or Carl Lewis.

[PostandGhost]

11 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

Go look at how many gold medal winners end up having to sell their medals because they have no money.  Sure it's a great thing to have, but nobody is going to pay your bills for you because you won it.  Based on the choices given, it's not even close.  

 

Especially this year with the athletes village not nearly as social as normal.

A journeyman PGA Tour player is doing wayyyyyyyy better than a typical olympic athlete may friend, it's not even close.  He won't have to sell his gold medal to cut his grass, hahaha.

 

 

[5 O'Clock Charlie]

6 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Olympic gold.

 

Being a "major winner" is a great accomplishment. But if you win ONE major in your entire career, people will forget you. Flash in the pan. 

 

Olympic gold is forever. When you're a grandpa, do you want to display a trophy from that one tournament, or do you want to show them your Olympic gold medal?

 

Funny, I remember Rich Beem, YE Yang, DL3, Justin Leonard, Zinger, Woosnam, Couples. But I don't have a rats rip who won a medal at any olympic games. Olympic golf is a joke.

[Old Tom Morris]

Quad Cities Open has a stronger field than the olympics.  

[grm24]

1 hour ago, Old Tom Morris said:

Quad Cities Open has a stronger field than the olympics.  

In a word. No. This years John Deere (f/ka/ Quad Cities) had a SOF of 122 and awarded 28 rankings points to the winner. Olympics as a SOF of 319 and awarded 50 ranking points to the winner. The SOF for this Olympics was better than 2016 (SOF 285, 46 points to the winner.)

[grm24]

2 hours ago, tatertot said:

Great question ...

 

1996 - He would have a shot at it, but no guarantee to even make team USA.

2000 - odds on favorite

2004 - odds on favorite

2008 - odds on favorite

2012 - this was a tough year, would he have made the team?

In 2012 Tiger easily makes the hypothetical Olympic team on his world ranking.

http://www.owgr.com/en/Ranking/PlayerProfile.aspx?playerID=5321&year=2012

 

In 2008 he would have been favored but wouldn't have played due to his leg injuries.

[grm24]

15 hours ago, smashdn said:

I read an old article from 2017 regarding the Rio games but said that the gold medal winner there got one year exemptions.

Correct. Here is what the Gold Medal winner gets if needed. XS is already in all of those events as was Justin Rose in 2016.

 

The tournament is also considered an official event on the European Tour and a victory would offer full status there. The winner of the tournament will also receive a one-year exemption into the major championships and the Players Championship, while the medalists are exempt from local or first-stage qualifying for the U.S. Open.

 

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31884435/everything-need-know-men-olympic-golf-tournament-tokyo-games

[Dave230]

11 hours ago, sekrah said:

I love this sport more than anything on earth and I couldn't even tell you who won gold in 2016.

 

Give me the money and exemptions 100% of the time.  Enjoy your medal.

 

 

Justin Rose, there was only one winner before this, not too hard to remember. Do you remember Jason Day won the 2016 Players Championship off the top of your head?

[3whacker]

the only great player that I can think of in the last 40 years that did not win the Players was Tom Watson, but he has very few if any wins on Florida grass...

 

Give me a Players Championship any day...the Olympics are a lot about being at the peak of your sport in an Olympic year, IMO thats one of the reasons a lot of our athletes are not doing well or have not repeated, plus in other sports the Olympic trials are tougher. than the games itself

[grm24]

35 minutes ago, 3whacker said:

the only great player that I can think of in the last 40 years that did not win the Players was Tom Watson, but he has very few if any wins on Florida grass...

Great call on Watson. TW had zero wins in Florida on the PGA Tour. He won twice in Florida on the Champions Tour.

 

ETA - Slight disagreement on another great player not winning The Players. VJ Singh was absolutely a great player that didn't win it. 

Edited August 4, 2021 by grm24

[Rapidcat]

7 hours ago, OldCuss said:

Players.

 

Money conservatively invested to greater guarantee:

 

Wife taken care of for life,

Dogs taken care of for life, 

Ability to do the type of work I most enjoy, and

Two-week annual vacation.

 

Old Cuss

Are you sure?

 

Those veterinarian bills can be expensive.

[Rapidcat]

I'm a practical man so I'd take the Players Championship. As a journeyman pro who might have a short time on the PGA Tour and not planning on ending up living in my vehicle, it's just too much to forego. Of course also great golf industry cred.

 

If I was less practical and enamoured with the Olympic ideal and not worried about living in my vehicle, I'd take the Olympic Gold. Great global cred with almost everyone but funnily enough, maybe not so much in the golf industry.

[MattyO1984]

In terms of a singular achievement, winning the Players has to be more challenging that winning Olympic Golf. Beating the majority of the Top 100 in the world vs beating a handful of them, there is barely a comparison. Add in the winners cheque, the exemptions, it’s a huge huge win. Plus if I won it, surely that would allow me to proclaim to all and sundry that it is not a major and never should be - win win for me.

[MattyO1984]

Obviously the Olympics is unpaid but have there been rough figures for how much extra sponsorship money winning a Gold medal would have. In saying that, I get that someone who competes in fencing and wins a gold is unlikely to pick up much but in a reasonably popular sport with plenty of money flying around, surely an Olympic Gold is going to increase your worth to sponsors.

[jomatty]

I think the only type player that Olympic gold could make sense for would be someone like Fowler.  Someone who has more money than they know what to do with, and has had some success.  It would be a nice memory and pad the resume. For almost any other kind of player the money and exemptions are just too much.  
 

if money and exemptions we’re the same, for me, I’d rather have the gold medal.  No real reason other than it would be cooler...

[Dave230]

I think if you look at this example practically - a journeyman American golfer can't qualify for the Olympics. You have to be in the best 4 American golfers in the world, you have to be better than Jordan Spieth in the current rankings. The only way would be the Finau route where you unlikely keep finishing in high places but never win. But even then Finau is pretty safe in his exemption and a multi millionaire where money wouldn't be his sole motivator.

 

But I don't know if at any point Finau was ever in Olympic qualification. It's very unlikely you qualify for the Olympics for the US without having -

 

All of your exemption sorted for many years

Have won big tournaments already.

 

So that brings on other countries, if you came from a small country then you could become a national hero for winning an Olympic medal. This is priceless for some golfers and you may reach a greater fame and prestige than you would in a big nation like America. For example, you could be the only gold medal winner of that country in that Olympics. In that case, I don't think it's an easy answer. 

[JohnnyCashForever]

6 hours ago, grm24 said:

In a word. No. This years John Deere (f/ka/ Quad Cities) had a SOF of 122 and awarded 28 rankings points to the winner. Olympics as a SOF of 319 and awarded 50 ranking points to the winner. The SOF for this Olympics was better than 2016 (SOF 285, 46 points to the winner.)

Not so fast.  I think you're discounting the fact that the Olympics only had 60 competitors...a third of whom I would hazard to guess have never qualified for a PGA Tour event and never will.  The JDC has 156.  IMO, since anyone in the field is capable of catching lightening in a bottle over four rounds, by sheer number, the JDC would have a stronger field.

 

 

 

[iBanesto]