Rory McIlroy may skip the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Would he ever skip a major? Photo via munnybear/Flickr Creative Commons.

Six months on from the halcyon days of summer 2012, Britain’s blissful reverie of a special Olympic games, our finest summer of sport, remains strong.

Team GB’s success was such that now we consider ourselves an elite sporting nation. Britain’s grandiose nature made tangible in the form of 29 gold medals, a tally bettered only by China and the United States.

It is inevitable that following such achievement there should be calls for more sports to be added to the Olympics, especially those we already excel at. Darts is a prime example, but Phil Taylor’s recent support for its inclusion — fuelled by Sir Clive Woodward’s emphatic ‘darts is definitely an Olympic sport’ comment — should take heed of the furore surrounding golf’s contentious place in the 2016 games.

Golf does not face serious doubts about its image in the same way darts does, but the importance of a gold medal in comparison to a major, or a PDC World Championship, is a perplexing issue applicable to both.

The difference between the Olympics and golf is that one is about preparation and sacrifice for that one chance every four years, the other for that one chance for four weeks of every year.

Tom Watson stated that competing for a gold medal would ‘dilute’ the importance of golf’s four major championships — the benchmark against which golfers are eternally judged. Watson’s point is an important one, but needs to be inverted to judge the crux of the golf-Olympics complex.

The problem is not that Olympic gold will become too important; it is that it will fail to be important enough.

Already Rory McIlroy has hinted that the question over whom he should represent — Ireland or Great Britain — is not worth a gold medal. In a new BBC documentary he made clear that foregoing the games altogether was one of three options he is ‘considering very carefully.’ The Olympics’ credentials would be hurt immeasurably if the game’s best chose not to play.

McIlroy is so unsure about committing to Rio in 2016 because golf, as it is now, provides safety for him, a sanctuary away from the trouble that has afflicted his homeland for many years. In the Walker Cup he played for Great Britain and Ireland; in the Ryder Cup he is European; in everything else he is Rory McIlroy. Playing in the Olympics threatens to embroil McIlroy in something he has thus far escaped.

On a more basic level, the format of play suggested for 2016 is in stark need of revision. As it stands, the medals would be contested between 60 men and 60 women — in separate events — over 72 holes of strokeplay golf. The top-15 in the men’s world ranking would be automatically entered, as would the top-15 in the women’s. However, no country can have more than four players if among the top-15 and, after the automatic berth cut-off, countries can be represented by no more than two of their highest-ranked players if not already qualified.

The criteria for entry appears adequate but if the games wishes to differentiate itself from the majors then a matchplay format should be adopted whereby countries pair-off against each other. Not only does a 72-hole strokeplay event hold the threat of becoming a boring affair in which the final round — supposedly the climactic finale brimming with suspense and excitement — becomes a victory procession for that week’s best golfer, it also introduces the chance of a medal being undermined.

It is highly improbable, but say a male golfer from Russia — a country it is thought will benefit from golf’s exposure as part of the Olympics — wins gold. Now, as far as I know, no Russian has ever competed on the PGA Tour, let alone held a card. Yet, by beating a world class field, on ‘the grandest stage of them all,’ he would be no closer to capturing the most lucrative playing rights in golf.

Somehow, I don’t think a gold medal would be much consolation for missing out on the millions on offer on the PGA and European Tours.

The notion of darts being in the 2020 Olympics is a dreamy, if surreal one. But before its proponents go headlong into its promotion, they should take a closer look at the tumultuous nature of golf’s inclusion.

McIlroy đề cao Andy Murray. Tay golf người Bắc Ai Len đã viết trên Twitter của mình rằng anh sẽ bỏ phiếu cho Murray ở lễ trao giải “Nhân vật thể thao của năm” do đài BBC tổ chức. Murray đã có một năm thi đấu cực kỳ thành công khi lần đầu tiên vô địch US Open và đoạt HCV Olympic. Ngoài Murray trong danh sách đề cử còn có những tên tuổi lẫy lừng khác của làng thể thao thế giới như Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, hay Bradley Wiggins.

Murray hài lòng với sự thay đổi của US Open. Tay vợt số 3 thế giới cho biết anh ủng hộ quyết định thay đổi lịch thi đấu của BTC US Open 2013 nhằm giúp các tay vợt có thêm thời gian nghỉ ngơi. Murray cho biết: “Tôi hài lòng khi USTA đã có những sửa đổi trong lịch thi đấu US Open khi cho một ngày nghỉ giữa trận bán kết và chung kết. Cùng với việc gia tăng về tiền thưởng, đó là một tin tốt lành cho các VĐV tham dự giải đấu”.

Murray hài lòng với những thay đổi của US Open

Trước đó BTC US Open đã quyết định đưa một ngày nghỉ vào giữa trận bán kết và chung kết. Điều này có nghĩa trận chung kết nội dung đơn Nam sẽ diễn ra vào ngày thứ Hai thay vì ngày Chủ nhật như trước đây. Trong khi đó trận bán kết thứ hai của các tay vợt nữ sẽ diễn ra vào ngày thứ Sáu và trận chung kết sẽ diễn ra vào ngày Chủ nhật. Trong khi đó hai trận bán kết ở nội dung đơn Nam được lên kế hoạch tổ chức vào ngày thứ Bảy và các tay vợt sẽ có một ngày nghỉ trước khi bước vào thi đấu trận chung kết. Tiền thưởng của giải đấu cũng được tăng lên đáng kể từ 4 triệu USD tăng lên thành 29,5 triệu USD.

Khai mạc giải 8 tay vợt xuất sắc toàn quốc 2012. Ở giải nam, đã không có bất ngờ nào xảy ra. Tại bảng A, hạt giống số một Đỗ Minh Quân dễ dàng vượt qua người đồng đội ở Tanimex TP.HCM là Bùi Thái Luận với tỷ số 2-0 (6/2, 6/4). Vất vả hơn Đỗ Minh Quân, tay vợt kỳ cựu Lê Quốc Khánh phải mất 3 set đấu mới khuất phục được tay vợt của Quân đội, Trần Thanh Hoàng với các tỷ số (6/2, 4/6 và 6/4). Ở bảng B, Hồ Huỳnh Đan Mạch vượt qua Nguyễn Thành Đông sau 2 set với cùng tỷ số 6/2. Trận đấu còn lại, Phạm Minh Tuấn giành chiến thắng trước Trần Hoàng Anh Khoa với các tỷ số 6/4 và 6/3.

Trong khi đó, bảng nữ diễn ra tương đối dễ dàng hơn với các tay vợt hàng đầu. Đài Trang vượt qua người đồng đội ở Tanimex TP.HCM là Ngọc Vân sau 2 set với các tỷ số 6/0 và 6/2. Trận đấu còn lại, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình đã bị tái phát chấn thương ở set 2, sau khi để thua người đồng đội Đỗ Đan Thi (Đà Nẵng) trong set 1 với tỷ số 6/7 và đành chấp nhận bỏ cuộc. Bảng B là cuộc cạnh tranh nội bộ của 4 tay vợt ở đội Tanimex TP.HCM. Trần Lam Anh đã dễ dàng vượt qua Sỹ Bội Ngọc sau 2 set với cùng tỷ số 6/0. Trần Thị Tâm Hảo cũng khuất phục Huỳnh Phi Khanh với các tỷ số 6/2, 6/1.

Mark Webber chưa giã từ đường đua. Tay lái người Úc cho biết anh vẫn còn cảm thấy tự tin vào các kỹ năng và sức khỏe của mình và vẫn muốn tiếp tục tham dự F1: “Tôi không phải là tay lái mới bắt đầu sự nghiệp, tôi biết rằng mình vẫn có thể thi đấu đỉnh cao trong một thời gian dài nữa. Mục tiêu của tôi là cạnh tranh trong cuộc đua giành chức vô địch trong năm tới và tôi đã có một số chặng đua tốt trong vài năm qua. Tôi chưa muốn dừng lại.”

Ông trùm F1 Ecclestone chỉ muốn 10 đội tham dự F1. Trong bài phát biểu mới đây trước báo giới, Ecclestone cho biết: “Tôi không bao giờ muốn 12 đội tham gia. Nó sẽ dễ dàng quản lý hơn nếu chỉ có 10 đội tham gia, thuận lợi cho việc quảng bá, vận chuyển. Chúng tôi chỉ muốn 10 đội… miễn là tiếp tục có sự góp mặt của Ferrari”.

Caroline Wozniacki đang tham dự giải đấu biểu diễn “Gillette Federer Tour” ở Brazil và không như những đồng nghiệp khác chỉ có một thân một mình, tay vợt người Đan Mạch còn mang tới Brazil cả anh bạn trai Rory McIlroy trong chuyến du đấu tới Nam Mỹ. Trước trận đấu với Sharapova, cặp trai tài gái sắc còn khởi động bằng bài tập với bóng đá.

Kể từ khi công khai hẹn hò vào năm ngoái, McIlroy và Wozniacki thường xuyên sắp xếp thời gian để có mặt trong những giải đấu của nhau. Nếu McIlroy thi đấu thì Wozniacki cổ vũ và ngược lại. Dù vậy năm 2012 với McIlroy và Wozniacki là hai mặt tương phản, trong khi tay golf người Bắc Ai Len leo lên số 1 làng golf thế giới thì cô bạn gái lại tuột dốc thê thảm trên bảng xếp hạng WTA.

McIlroy và Wozniacki quấn quít bên nhau trong vòng hơn 1 năm qua

Thời điểm quen biết McIlroy vào tháng 7/2011 cũng trùng vào giai đoạn sa sút không phanh của Wozniacki. Tính từ lúc đó tới hiện tại, tay vợt người Đan Mạch rơi từ vị trí số 1 thế giới xuống số 10 và cũng chỉ có 3 danh hiệu nhỏ thuộc hệ thống WTA. Wozniacki cũng trải qua 2 Grand Slam liên tiếp tại Wimbledon và US Open mà bị loại ngay từ vòng 1.

Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy are both rivals and friends, until one has the upper hand on a PGA match, then its game time. Rory and Tiger have lunch together and even sometimes play a friendly game of match play as well, but people wonder if it is a true relationship, or a strategy to peal away one another’s focus on a very important opponent. This year Tiger and Rory where both candles in a field of darkness. They lighted the way in the standings and Rory grabbed the number one spot in the world a while back at the Honda Classic. Rory still holds onto the lead, but Tiger is not far behind. Rory also has one more arrow in Tigers heart, the Ryder Cup. Tiger had a chance to tie the europeans with a short put, but lipped out and shut down with disbelief. Although this upset Tiger and the rest of the American team, he has yet to back down to Rory’s intimidation. Tiger has gone on to win Jack Nicholas’s Memorial tournament and two other big wins. Rory has won 4 tournaments this year, and stands at the highest on the money list. Tiger and Rory have more single wins this year than any other PGA tour player and they havent stopped yet. Its safe to say that Tiger and Rory are The Two Giants that walk golfs fairways and greens without looking at a single hazard.

Next weekend sees the climax of the British sporting year, as the best of the best compete to be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It’s always hard to predict, and later even harder to justify, how the public vote but I wanted to pay my own personal tribute to the 12 on the list and offer some words of recognition to a few who amazingly missed out on the shortlist when any other year they would have probably been crowned the winner.

Nicola Adams created Olympic history by becoming the first ever woman to claim a gold medal in the Olympic boxing ring and what an amiable character she appears to be. Always smiling and joking out of the ring, her persona obviously changes when she steps inside it. If women’s boxing needed a poster girl, this Leeds lass ticks all the required boxes. She will inspire many other girls to put on a pair of gloves, but I would think that the sport does not yet possess the wider appeal to make her a candidate for this award.

Ben Ainslie has been at the very top of his sport for twelve years. He has delivered gold medals in every Olympic Games there has been in the 21st Century. No mean achievement, he is out there on the water on his own and every time has found the inner strength to find a way to beat his opponents. His mean streak came to the fore going into the last day of his race this year after his opponents had made him angry. Big mistake. There’s certainly a case to describe Ainslie as Britian’s greatest ever Olympian but, as with Adams, his sport is not mainstream enough even in an Olympic year to win a public vote.

Jessica Ennis is the darling of British athletics. She’s the girl with the pretty face and adorable personality who just happens to possess tons of Sheffield steel in her track-and-field persona, which meant that she was always likely to succeed in 2012. Doubtless she would have won Gold in Beijing four years earlier but for a cruel injury. But the expectations were massive on Ennis’ shoulders; more pressure was put on her than any other British athlete in the London Games. She triumphed and we all shared in her success. She has an outside chance of winning this award but there are greater champions this year.

Mo Farah became the first British athlete to win the 5,000m-10,000m Olympic double, in the same year that he became the first man in history to defend a European 5,000 metres crown. All this whilst his heavily-pregnant-with-twins wife watched on nervously. The Somalian-born immigrant made the Olympic stadium his own by winning Gold medals on consecutive Saturday nights and is a triumph for multi-cultural Britain. For these reasons, I think he will come out on top of the public vote. The personal sacrifices he has made with his career are all worth it now as he stands as one of the finest athletes in the world today.

Katherine Grainger. Pleased with rowing silver in Sydney. Less so with silver in Athens. Absolutely crestfallen with silver in Beijing, after which she considered giving up for good. Then along came Anna Watkins to create a perfect pairing ahead of the London Games. They went out hard, they went out strong and won by an absolutely huge distance. The tears were real alright, personal redemption. A message to all kids worldwide not to give up on your dream. It ranks as great an achievement as there has been in British rowing history and for a nation which produced Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, that is praise indeed. She has a shot at a top 3 placing here but produced my personal moment of the Games, one which will always ranks as one of my favourite sporting moments.

Sir Chris Hoy is like Fedex when it comes to the Greatest Show on Earth; he always delivers. He secured two more Olympic titles this summer to reach six in total. And yet, he is not expected to feature amongst the top 3 next week. Why? Simply put, he is a victim of his own successes and expectations in the eyes of the public. We expect him to deliver and he does so, so we almost think it’s too easy. It is far from so. But he has won this award in the past and does not need it to add anything to his career. His perfect swansong will hopefully come in his home Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Rory McIlroy has had another superb year in his sport and is worthy of his spot on the shortlist, the only competitor who didn’t step foot in London this summer. He added another major to his maiden one from last year and has had spells as the world number one. At his age, he could well go on to dominate the sport and win close to ten majors. There I will stop, as I haven’t got a clue about golf!

Andy Murray would be a shoe-in for this award in any other year. He ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a Grand Slam champion, to add to the Olympic Gold and Silver medals he won five weeks earlier. In doing so, he defeated two of the greatest players to have ever played tennis in the finals. His will-to-win has shone through this year, but his lack of popularity when compared to the others on the shortlist will still count against him. Top 3 is an outside bet.

Ellie Simmonds is still a teenager and has four Paralympic swimming titles to her CV. Not bad, not bad at all. She is probably the face of the British Paralympic team and delivered again, just as she did in Beijing as a 14-year-old. Her two gold medals this summer were accompanied by a silver and a bronze, meaning she will have to pay hefty luggage fees if she plans on travelling with budget airlines anytime in the future.

Sarah Storey now has 22 Paralympic medals across two sports, swimming and cycling. An incredible achievement. Four Gold medals this summer puts her at the very top of the deserving list. She has 11 Gold medals in her Paralympic career and the recognition that being on this shortlist brings will possibly mean just as much to her as any of those individual titles. In my reckoning, she would be top three but I think she may fall short. For me, her career matches anything anybody else has ever achieved in sport.

David Weir added four Paralympic titles to the sixth London marathon he won earlier this year and received as much fervent home support as any British sport star. The Weirwolf masks went down a storm and, along with the successes of stars like Storey and Simmonds, Weir’s achievement helped the Paralympics reach almost- parity with the Olympics in terms of media exposure and recognition. This is the greatest success for those three this year. Simmonds has the best chance of getting on the SPOTY podium but, whatever happens, there are three Paralympians on the shortlist, unimaginable in the past.

Bradley Wiggins is the apparent no-brainer for victory in this contest. He was the first British man to win the Tour de France and followed it up with yet another Olympic Gold medal a few weeks later. Sporting immortality. His feet appear firmly on the pedals as he refuses to let celebrity take over his life. However, I think his dour personality may just count against him in this award, and maybe the public won’t want to see another cycling champion after Mark Cavendish in 2011.

So, if I am to predict the public vote I will go for Mo Farah-Bradley Wiggins-Ellie Simmonds. If I was to be given the sole responsibility of choosing the victor, I would go for Katherine Grainger-Mo Farah-Sarah Storey as my preferred trio. But I suppose every sport fan in Britain would choose a different three. What is for sure is that no other British sporting year has ever come close to matching this one. There are Olympic champions galore who have missed out on even being nominated. Every single name is deserving of being on the list. Spare a thought for the likes of Jade Jones (Britain’s first ever Olympic Taekwondo champion) , Victoria Pendleton who ended her stunning career with another Gold and silver medal to add to her haul, and double Olympic champion Laura Trott who claimed Gold in the most difficult cycling event, the Omnium. As well as those ladies, spare a thought for all of the athletes who gave their very best and achieved to the best of their ability this year. What is for certain is that all of these athletes put the Great in Great Britain and Northern Ireland this year. Let’s all celebrate them next Sunday and relive those great memories from Great Britain’s greatest sporting year one last time before it comes to an end.

Rory’s first photo in his Nike gear

If you didn’t see the culmination to the Race to Dubai this past week, you missed out. There were low scores a plenty, including a 10-under final round from Justin Rose, which looked to have the field beat, except for one man. Rory McIlroy saw Rose’s magnificent 62 as mere impetuous, finishing with five birdies to beat the Englishman by two shots. This world number one’s worthy, assassin like performance, led to obvious further comparisons with Tiger Woods, a man whose career was full of such finishes. These comparisons are here to stay too it would seem as Rory is set to sign a $200 million contract with Woods’ long-time sponsor Nike.

With McIlroy’s contract now finished with Titleist, a brand whose clubs he used to win two majors, both money titles and rise to the top of the golf world, he has said he will be throwing himself into new equipment testing. Rory’s move to Nike has drawn criticism from some big names in the game, one European star in particular, Nick Faldo. The Englishman, who also switched club manufactures during his career, has warned of the dangers such a move may pose. In particular, he sees the move as purely for financial gains and worries that this may harm McIlroy’s golf next season.

“The bottom line is he’s doing it for money,” Faldo said. “When he looks at a 20-year career it’s not necessary. If he carries on and wins more majors he’ll be worth hundreds of millions anyway. Sure this is a wonderful guarantee but Rory knows the biggest thing is winning golf tournaments. If he believes that’s still going to happen, fine. But if it holds him back for a split second in his mind then you will question it.”

Whilst Faldo would certainly know more about this area (and every area in golf) than I do, I am afraid I have to disagree. Firstly, if Rory wants to make the move for money, who can stand up and criticise that. He is only young, but Golf like any sport, can be a cruel mistress and thus, why not cash in whilst the money is there to be made. Before, I get any angry letters saying that Rory will be winning Majors for years to come, I totally agree. However, you never know with these things so if he wants to secure his future financially now, who can blame him. Secondly, whilst it may take awhile for him to get the right feel and flight that he is looking for with his new clubs, I do not think that a change in equipment will hold his game back in the long term.

No, I don’t think it is Rory fans that should be worried about this switch, but rather the other manufactures in the game. With McIlroy switching allegiances to Nike, beware everyone else. Nike will be all over the two most popular names in the game, and one that is likely to continue to be for many years to come. Moreover, even with Tiger it still seems as though Nike golf clubs are on the outside looking in with the average club golfer, but that would almost certainly change if the Golf’s newest golden boy starts using them to continue to win majors and money titles left right and centre.

She waited her turn at the back of the room on Thursday before pouncing. She first asked about the support the PGA Championship winner had received – hoping for a compliment – before demanding to know what she would get for Christmas.

McIlroy tried to avoid the topic by telling the Danish tennis star she ”already got a lot of nice presents.”

Wozniacki wouldn’t relent, prompting laughter in the room and forcing McIlroy to say he had ”been looking” and would get her ”a nice present.”

McIlroy shot a 6-under 66 to trail leader Luke Donald by one stroke at the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

View the original article here

In a change to recent years there are 12 candidates which have been selected by an esteemed panel of judges comprising; Barbara Slater, Philip Bernie, Carl Doran, Eleanor Oldroyd, Mike Dunn, Lee Clayton, Matthew Hancock, Sue Mott, Sir Steve Redgrave, Baroness Grey-Thompson Denise Lewis and Baroness Campbell.

The contenders for the prestigious trophy are:

Nicola Adams

Ben Ainslie

Jessica Ennis

Mo Farah

Katherine Grainger

Sir Chris Hoy

Rory McIlroy

Andy Murray

Ellie Simmonds

Sarah Storey

David Weir

Bradley Wiggins

The show is live on the BBC on the 16th of December broadcasting from the ExCel Arena.